Drug addicts in South Africa, who do not have enough money for the drug of their choice, have invented a new way to get high.
The process, called Bluetoothing, involves multiple drug users injecting blood from another user who has taken a hit of the drug.
A Sky News video captured the drug users taking a deadly cocktail of drugs called nyaope. The cocktail is a combination of heroin, antiretroviral drugs and even crushed glass and rat poison. After injecting it, they pull blood out of their veins and share it with others for them to also get high.
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The effect is almost instantaneous, giving the users the high they were looking for. However, according to one of the users known as Jesus, the high does not last for long.
“Maybe an hour or two,” said Jesus. “Sometimes less than an hour.”
Researchers have stated that bluetoothing may not be effective because the potency of the drug has reduced once it gets into the bloodstream.
Although there have been efforts by the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence to deal with the issue, more users are still looking for these drugs. Worse even, they are adding more dangerous products to the nyaope cocktail.
Besides drug addiction and dependence, the drug users are at risk of catching diseases, including HIV.
Our Africa correspondent @sparkomat meets South Africans risking their lives by injecting another person’s blood after a heroin cocktail pic.twitter.com/rGCBIMghzf
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 30, 2018
