"I started that day and continued for 2 years": a case report on adolescent 'whoonga' addiction

Abstract

'Whoonga' is a new craze drug that young people in South Africa are increasingly using. It consists of a cocktail of drugs and is considered to be highly addictive. Yet, there is a paucity of research that describes young people���s experiences of using this drug. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, this case report describes the highly addictive and destructive nature of adolescent whoonga addiction. The adolescent���s narrative revealed that initial experimentation with ���whoonga��� has the potential to rapidly escalate into full addiction over a short period of time. Whoonga addiction was also associated with involvement in criminal activities to support the adolescent���s high drug use demands. Whoonga is a dangerous street drug that requires immediate attention is South Africa.