the millions of South African HIV-positive

or the millions of South African HIV-positive patients taking antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, a new threat has developed; to be robbed of their life-prolonging medicine by gangs using the drug to lace marijuana, creating a highly-addictive drug by the name “whoonga”.

Whoonga can be any mixture of cheap substances, including rat poison, used in an attempt to enhance the high from smoking marijuana.

Users of the drug strongly believe that using ARVs, such as Efavirenz, or Stocrin, boosts hallucinogenic effects, while police says that doing so has very little real effect.

Vish Naidoo, national police agency spokesman, said “It is a relatively new drug that began to surface a few months ago and fortunately for now, is confined to a few areas.”

As a result, among efforts to make ARVs more widely available to the nearly six million South Africans living with HIV, authorities are now also faced with the problem of eradicating the illegal trade in these drugs, involving increased security surrounding ARV supplies, as well as informing patients of the risk of theft.

Victims of whoonga criminals mostly stay silent, as reporting a theft would consequently expose them as HIV positive.