poledriver
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Drug use in South Africa takes dangerous turn as addicts share blood in 'Bluetooth' trend
Young drug addicts in South Africa are using a dangerous practice to share their high. It's nicknamed 'Bluetooth'.
Addicts inject themselves with heroin, then draw their own blood back up the syringe and inject it into a friend.
'Bluetooth' carries a high risk of transmission of HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. But many of the young people doing it say they no longer care about their lives.
Africa correspondent Sally Sara reports from the township of Diepsloot, near Johannesburg.
Warning: this story contains graphic content.
A man stands outside wearing a Qantas pyjama top, watering the dirt road to keep the dust down. I point at the kangaroo logo and tell him it's from Australia. He shrugs his shoulders and smiles. I don't know how the pyjamas got all the way here. It's a bit like the way many people end up in Diepsloot. No-one really planned it. But, once they are here, it's difficult to get out.
The township began in 1995. Its first residents were brought here from the riverbanks in Alexandra township in Johannesburg, where their shacks were at risk of flooding. The government promised them a better life, but it hasn't come true for most. The townhouses and malls of suburban Johannesburg are growing closer to Diepsloot, but in some ways their opportunities seem further away.
Young women sit on plastic crates, drinking beer and cheering on the Qantas pyjama man as he waters the street.
"Ay wena! Hey you. Come, you must clean my shack next," she says.
The other women clap their hands and throw their heads back in laughter. It's only 11:00am, but the smell of beer is already strong around the township on a Sunday. There are sharp divisions on this day of the week. The beer drinkers sit in circles outside their shacks. The churchgoers are dressed in white and blue robes, some carrying wooden crosses. Drink or pray — that's the choice.
But in a garage across the road there's something else going on. Three young men sit huddled around a flickering candle in a makeshift garage. There's something secretive about it. Part excitement, part fear.
Continued with pics -
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-...rganic&WT.tsrc=Facebook_Organic&sf107897398=1
Young drug addicts in South Africa are using a dangerous practice to share their high. It's nicknamed 'Bluetooth'.
Addicts inject themselves with heroin, then draw their own blood back up the syringe and inject it into a friend.
'Bluetooth' carries a high risk of transmission of HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. But many of the young people doing it say they no longer care about their lives.
Africa correspondent Sally Sara reports from the township of Diepsloot, near Johannesburg.
Warning: this story contains graphic content.
A man stands outside wearing a Qantas pyjama top, watering the dirt road to keep the dust down. I point at the kangaroo logo and tell him it's from Australia. He shrugs his shoulders and smiles. I don't know how the pyjamas got all the way here. It's a bit like the way many people end up in Diepsloot. No-one really planned it. But, once they are here, it's difficult to get out.
The township began in 1995. Its first residents were brought here from the riverbanks in Alexandra township in Johannesburg, where their shacks were at risk of flooding. The government promised them a better life, but it hasn't come true for most. The townhouses and malls of suburban Johannesburg are growing closer to Diepsloot, but in some ways their opportunities seem further away.
Young women sit on plastic crates, drinking beer and cheering on the Qantas pyjama man as he waters the street.
"Ay wena! Hey you. Come, you must clean my shack next," she says.
The other women clap their hands and throw their heads back in laughter. It's only 11:00am, but the smell of beer is already strong around the township on a Sunday. There are sharp divisions on this day of the week. The beer drinkers sit in circles outside their shacks. The churchgoers are dressed in white and blue robes, some carrying wooden crosses. Drink or pray — that's the choice.
But in a garage across the road there's something else going on. Three young men sit huddled around a flickering candle in a makeshift garage. There's something secretive about it. Part excitement, part fear.
Continued with pics -
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-...rganic&WT.tsrc=Facebook_Organic&sf107897398=1
