Nyaope and anaesthesia

Authors Keywords: nyaope, anaesthesia, novel psychoactive substance Abstract

Nyaope, a novel psychoactive substance, has been used increasingly in South Africa since 2000. It is a mixture of lowgrade heroin, cannabis products, antiretroviral drugs and other materials used as bulking agents.1 The chemical makeup of nyaope varies geographically within South Africa according to the availability of raw materials and demand patterns from regular users. It is also known by various other names, including whoonga, pinch, unga and sugars. It is unique to South Africa and, until recently, was not classified as illegal. It was only with the amendment of the Drugs and Trafficking Act of 2014 that nyaope was classified as an illegal substance. Despite this, the situation has evolved rapidly since 2015, and anecdotal evidence suggests that in black townships, Nyaope may be the drug most frequently used.2 This situation has received surprisingly little attention as a national issue and there is a lack of formal studies despite its widespread use.

Author Biography L Strauss, University of the Witwatersrand

Department of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

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FCA Refresher Course

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