Child-abuse drugs 'easy to buy'
2005-05-19 13:36
Pretoria - Some of the most potent drugs possibly given to children with the aim of abusing them were freely available over the counter, a psychiatrist told experts in the field of child abuse on Thursday.
"We always worry about opiates and other illicit drugs being used to drug children, but many of the drugs are available over the country," said Shaquir Salduker.
"Substances such as codeine, which the body metabolises into morphine, are available from pharmacies in cough mixtures."
He was speaking on the final day of a conference of the South African Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, held at the University of Pretoria.
Salduker said there was not much documentation to suggest the widespread use of drugs to make children vulnerable to abuse, although it did occur.
Alcohol was by far the most common substance used to coerce children into doing things they did not want to, he said.
"Many children experiment with alcohol from the age of nine or 10, so it is easy for an abuser to give alcohol to a child who has already tasted it and enjoys its effect."
Date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol and Clonazepam were used for their sedative, memory-loss and disinhibiting effects, Salduker said.
He described the effect of these drugs on children as dangerous because they were so much smaller than adults.
"An adult taking Rohypnol may sleep for seven hours, and a child on Rohypnol may turn psychotic or sleep for seven days solid."
- SAPA