Bane of drug addiction continues among youth

Mumbai, June 28: The Rahul Mahajan's alleged coke binge case which has been in the public glare of late, has brought into limelight the growing drug menace among youngsters.

King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital's psychiatry department head Dr Shubangi Parkar told UNI that contradictory factors drive adolescents into drugs, coupled with directionless nurturing.

She said one of the major reasons of abuse among affluent children is lack of care and attention, resulting in directionless nurturing. Whereas, the lower strata try to beat the harsh realities of life through cheap drugs and dopes.

She regretted Indian society is still apathetic towards drug users, particularly those who belong to the lower strata of the society, whereas users from affluent backgrounds consume high quality drugs and also have the resources for timely intervention and rehabilitation.

Incidentally, a study conducted by a group of medical students in the city over a decade ago had found that among the drug users in the city, more than 70 per cent were ''youngsters''.

In fact, illiteracy was held as one of the reasons for spread of addiction. However, consistent research and expert opinions indicate that education and occupation had no significant effect on drug addiction, as majority of the addicts indulge in drugs out of peer pressure, curiosity, pleasure seeking, mental tension and relative emotional immaturity.

However, figures from a study in the metropolis alone narrate a different story, where about 5,000 street children aged between eight to 18 are addicted to different forms of drugs, to kill hunger, poverty and other physical abuses.

These run away destitutes, majority of whom are orphans and from broken families, slip into doping of dangerous solvents such as glue, petrol and correction fluid by chasing, snorting, smoking and injecting and subsequently turning to brown sugar at a later stage, the study said.

Incidentally, brown sugar is the cheapest drug and is responsible for India's opiate addiction problem. Labelled as ''smack'' by peddlers, its purity can be as low as two per cent and is heavily adulterated with anything, from rat poison to citric acid.

Dr Bharat Shah, a psychatrist at Leelavati hospital here also said that unlike the past, consumption of drugs in cities has become common among the young. Altogether, the Indian society has become permissive in the last two decades, due to nuclearisation of families, changing lifestyle, economic growth and availability of easy money, he said.

Smoking and drinking are more addictive, when compared to the casual use of drugs out of curiosity and pleasure in high-end parties or trance nights.

He, however, regretted that there is a dearth of data on the exact level of addicts, users and rehabilitated users in the country.

''Only those cases come to light, which are under clinical scrutiny, whereas a majority of other issues related to drug abuse never come to light,'' he added.

Incidentally, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), a quasi-judicial body monitoring implementation of United Nations' (UN) international drug control convention, has warned against the increased drug abuse in Africa and Asia.

The INCB's report of last year points that India undertook its first national survey on the extent, pattern and trends in drug abuse in 2004. The survey drew attention to the high rate of abuse and growing incidence of intra-venous drug abuse as identified areas of serious concern.

The report holds Indian pharmacies and its products for acting as ''supply sources for trafficking,'' as a result of low prices and accessibility to pharmaceutical preparations, needles and syringes, even as the intra-venous abuse of buprenorphine is found to have escalated.

Rohit Menon (name changed), an aspiring filmamker and a regular in rave parties, said, ''I am smoking joints (a marijuana cigarette) for the last 10 years. It gives me immense power to concentrate on my work and I become free from all surrounding hassles.'' He, however, reluctantly conceded that his health has taken a beating as a result of his addiction.

Seventeen-year-old Akhil (name changed) says, ''I sniff occasionally to feel the kick.'' He claims that drugs can be easily procured anywhere in the country, if one has money.

He also claimed the presence of drugs and ecstasy materials in parties is a well-known secret among party-hoppers. ''Everybody is part of the game, some are end-users, others get money by trading the stuff,'' he added.

A document published by United Nations on drug and crime in 2004-05 observed the national survey on the extent, patterns and trends of drug abuse in India and it says India currently has no national system to monitor drug abuse. The document said the average age of first use is 24 years. Around 57 per cent of those surveyed reported a drug addition lasting five years or more. Drug abuse was found to be present among 49 per cent of respondent families and while opium abusers were mainly from rural background, heroin abusers were from urban areas.

Delving on reasons for the increase in drug use among youngsters, Bombay Psychiatrist Society secretary Dr Shilpa Adarkar said television and cinema has played a vital role in provoking the use of socially accepted addictions like smoking and drinking. These images later haunt children and innocents in trouble or distress, leading them to imitate their idol's action.

In 2001, the Union Ministry for Social Justice and Welfare, in its national survey on drug dependency estimated the number of alcoholics at 10 million, cannabis dependants at 2.8 million and opium-users at 0.5 million.

A recent report on India by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) raised the bar to two million opium users, 8.7 million cannabis-users and 62.5 million alcohol users, while 17 and 20 per cent were dependent users.

Finally, trapped by destiny, poverty, hunger and addiction, destitutes in the country form a major chunk donning the role of peddlers. To maintain their addiction and survival, these destitutes force themselves into the trade, therby becoming the unseen faces of India's street drug cartel, sources mentioned.

UNI