The South African Anxiety and Depression Group (Sadag) launched SA’s first Whatsapp chat platform, last year, for those who need help with substance abuse, it said that the average age for drug dependency in South Africa is 12 years old, while half of the country’s teenagers abuse alcohol. Between April 2021 and March 2022, the organisation’s substance abuse helpline received nearly 90 000 calls from people aged between 18 to 35, an increase of 107% from 2020.  In this discussion, we talk about  the prevalence, economic and social impact of drug use in South Africa. Another facet of this conversation is looking at the rise of unregistered rehabilitation centres which do more harm than good to people who are trying to overcome their addictions in the country. Health worker at the South African Network of People who Use Drugs (Sanpud), Violet Maodi joins Lerato Mbele to speak on her experience with a backyard rehabilitation centre. Lerato Mbele is joined for this conversation by Violet Maodi, Health worker at the South African Network of People who Use Drugs, Masechaba Fume, Office Manager at Crossroads Recovery Centre, Nkosana Mtolo, Spokesperson of the Gauteng Department of Social Development and Dr Andrew Scheibe who is a technical advisor at TB HIV Care and a researcher at the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Pretoria.