“Life is getting really monotonous, nothing interesting is happening around me, life’s getting boring by each passing day. Let’s do something fun, come on you only live once you’ve got to at least try it”. These are just some of the phrases people use or which drives them to the road of “just trying” different things and eventually getting addicted to them. Excessive use or liking of anything is harmful for both mental and physical health, especially if it’s affecting your body in a certain way, precisely ‘drugs’.
WHAT IS DRUGS?
To begin with, we need to understand what is drug? What actually comes into your mind when you hear the word “drug”? Scientifically, “any substance (other than food) that is used to prevent, diagnose, treat, or relieve symptoms of a disease or abnormal condition” is known as drug. According to this definition any medicine we take, let’s say to reduce fever, whatever medicine a person might take can be termed as a drug. But these are pharmaceutical drugs which cures disease, the drug that comes into our mind is any “chemical substance that causes a change in an organism’s physiology or psychology when consumed”. Drug addiction “the use of illegal drugs or the use of prescription or over the counter drugs for purposes other than those for which they are meant to be used, or in excessive amounts”. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption via patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue.
Substance Abuse has become a sever issue in India over the years. Alcohol, cannabis, opium, and heroin are the major drugs misused in India. Buprenorphine, propoxyphene, and heroin are the most commonly injected drugs, states the report published jointly by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and India’s Ministry of Social Justice.
India, a country with a population of over a billion, 62.5 million people use alcohol, 8.75 million use cannabis, two million use opiates, and 0.6 million use sedatives or hypnotics. 17% to 26%of these people can be classified as dependent users who need urgent treatment, says the report. About 25% of users of opiates and cannabis are likely to seek treatment. The data clearly shows
how serious the matter is.
LOCKDOWN PERIOD
When we talk about the pandemic, the lockdown period, our attention immediately shifts to the number of COVID cases or the number of deaths by COVID, but what we might be unaware of is that how drug abuse has affected more people during this period. The first thing that comes in our mind when we talk about 2020 and drugs is Sushant Singh Rajput’s case, the discussions around mental health, depression etc. makes most of the room or the talks about which celebrities are likely to be questioned for smoking ganja. These are just a few cases which we come across because it is associated with the big names, but there are many such cases out their in the rural areas where the situation is likely to be worse. We don’t know how severe the problem is or which state is more affected. One thing we come across is India is between the golden triangle, which comprises of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos and the golden crescent, which comprises of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran. These counties are the major providers of drugs in India. Trading from the golden crescent is easier for state like Punjab, whereas the golden triangle makes trading easier for the eastern states, like Assam. Thus, this eventually becomes the reason of these two states being mostly affected.
Different Studies claimed that there were 2.32 lakh ‘drug dependents’ in Punjab. This means 1.2% of the adult population is addicted to drugs. As for ‘users’, the surveys estimated the number to be 8.6 lakhs, which means 4.5% of all of Punjab’s population has at least ‘used’ drugs. On the top of this people working on the ground say figure don’t reflect the real situation.
Punjab has an ugly scenario of drug abuse. There are multiple cases of deaths due to overdose of drugs or many people are found unconscious due to overdose. Several reports are made by the people themselves or the NGO’s but the police ends up taking no action. The drugs being easily available in market becomes one of the major reasons for the growing rate of substance abuse in Punjab. When money acts as a barrier people are offered to sell one and take three in return which makes things easier. Awareness has been spread many times via different means, one such was through the movie ‘Udta Punjab’ which showed the issue.
DRUG ABUSE AMONG TEENS
Is it only the Adults who are affected by Drug abuse? The studies shows that substance abuse is growing among the adolescents at an immense pace. According to a study conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the most common form of substance abuse amongst adolescents is tobacco and alcohol, followed by inhalants and cannabis. The average age of onset of tobacco use was observed to be as low as 12 years, while another study revealed that 46% of slum dwelling adolescents started both smokeless and smoking tobacco, as well as alcohol and cannabis from childhood. With easy access to smokeless tobacco, studies in slums of Delhi have shown the age of initiation to be as low as 6 years. These are just some data of the slums which can be collected but there are more such cases which are not known of.
You can easily persuade adolescents which provides us with many reasons as to why are adolescents makes most of the drug abuse cases in India. Reasons can be peer pressure, stress of schools or studies, family pressure, or history of drug abuse in ones own family. These things are often cool for adolescents, they start taking drugs not knowing how will it affect their mind and body. By the time they know the severity they’re already addicted.
Students living in hostels are more likely to indulge in drug abuse.
REASONS
People have various reasons to start taking drugs, for some it might be just a one- time thing which eventually became an addiction, for some it might be pressure of work or school or other problems. People taking drugs or even consuming alcohol tend to believe that the intoxication which these things bring gives a relief to your brain for that period, they use it as an escape mechanism from the problems, but what they don’t realize that how harmful it is for their body.
As time passes you may need larger doses of the drug in order to get high. Soon you may need the drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases you may find that it’s increasingly difficult to go without drugs. Attempts to stop using may cause intense cravings and make you feel physically ill.
Drug addiction also causes depression and anxiety. You eventually start distancing yourself from you loved ones, spend excessively on your drug whether it suits your financial condition or not.
It not only affects the abuser but also their families.
Different measures are taken by the governments of different countries to resolve the issue.
Portugal was the first country in Europe to decriminalize all drugs. That doesn’t mean they’re openly selling heroin in the local store, but it means you won’t go to prison for having, selling or using drugs. You can face minor penalties, such as receiving a fine. Instead of throwing people in jail, Portugal has started focusing on rehabilitating drug users and treating addiction like the disease it is.
If we talk about India, though there are rules, but the scenario keeps getting worse, all we can do is spread more awareness about the issue and if any of your known one is a drug addict, don’t scold or scream at them, instead talk to them about it, try to listen to their perspective and eventually take them to the rehabilitation center so that they can get the best treatment possible.
Drug abuse is a serious issue which needs to be reflected on. The affected ones are need to be helped and the unaffected ones are need to be protected.
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