Tik made its appearance in 1998, and the first laboratory was seized in the same year. By 2005 it had surpassed other substances consumed by drug users in the Western Cape, including Mandrax, dagga and alcohol. Production centres have shifted from South Africa to Nigeria since 2018, besides the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region, from which an Ephedra-based substance is sourced since late 2019. Tik addicts in townships who commit theft to sustain their habit, have been murdered in instances of mob justice.