TACKLING DRUG
ABUSE
Drug addiction in
India has of late emerged as a matter of great concern. It has
an established linkage with HIV/AIDS. There are about 3 million
estimated victims of different kinds of drug usages, excluding
alcohol dependents, in the country. They constitute about 0.3
per cent of the total population that comes from diverse socio-economic,
cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds
Proliferation
Drug addiction is
directly linked with the emerging pattern of the society. The
traditional moorings about self- restraint, social taboos and
discipline of the joint family and community are fast eroding,
leading to the loosening of the traditional methods of social
control. Secondly, the continuous stress for betterment of life
in a fiercely competitive world is forcing sections of the youth
to take refuge in the world of drugs. The introduction of synthetic
drugs and intravenous drug use leading to HIV/AIDS has added a
new dimension to the problem, especially in the North-Eastern
parts of the country.
A national survey
recently undertaken by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
(UNODC) indicates a high level of drug addiction in certain social
segments. A disturbing trend of drug abuse has been noticed among
the street children. More and more women continue to bear the
burden of substance abuse as their bread-earner indulges in alcoholism.
Besides, the high incidence of drug addiction in the North-Eastern
States, these are opium growing areas. India is located close
to the major poppy-growing centres of the world the "Golden
Crescent" on the North-West and the "Golden Triangle"
on the North-East. The presence of poppy growing areas and the
trafficking routes have made India vulnerable to drug abuse.
Socio-Medical
Problem
Reports link the
relationship of drug abuse with the socio-economic conditions.
Therefore, the approach is to recognise drug abuse as a psycho-socio-medical
problem which can be best handled through community-based interventions.
The Centre has a
well -laid down strategy to deal with the problem of drug abuse
in the country. It focuses on controlling the availability of
illicit drugs through supply control strategies supplemented by
programmes for generating awareness and weaning away the people
from drugs through strategies like demand reduction.
Whereas the supply
reduction is under the purview of the Department of Revenue, the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment enforces the demand
reduction programme through motivation and rehabilitation of drug
addicts. The rehabilitation and social reintegration of an addict
is the mainstay of any such initiative. For this purpose the Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment has evolved a three-pronged
strategy which seeks to create awareness and educate the people
about the ill- effects of drug abuse; dealing with the addicts
through a motivational counselling, treatment, follow-up and social-reintegration
of the rehabilitated addicts and imparting of drug abuse prevention
and rehabilitation training to volunteers with a view to building
up an educated cadre of service providers.
Besides,
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, as the nodal agency
for demand reduction programmes, has a community-based approach
for prevention of alcoholism and substance abuse.
Under the Scheme
for Prohibition and Drug Abuse Prevention, the Ministry provides
financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid upto 90 per cent
to the eligible NGOs for extending services through counselling
and awareness centres, de-addiction-cum-rehabilitation centres
and for running awareness programmes. Around 400 voluntary organisations
are financially assisted for maintaining 450 centres all over
the country. They comprise of about 300 de-addiction–cum rehabilitation
centres and 90 counselling and awareness centres. On an average
about Rs.25 crore is annually released for this scheme. Over 4
lakh people are benefitting through this programme every year.
An allocation of more than Rs. 140 crore has been provided under
this programme during the Tenth Plan.
All centres have
doctors, counsellors, community workers and social workers. A
multi-disciplinary approach is applied as per the needs of individual
cases. They work in coordination with the community resources
as well as the infrastructure and services available under other
related agencies.
To facilitate
the medical treatment of hard-core addicts, who require intensive
long-term medical attention, 100 de-addiction centres are being
run in government hospitals and primary health centres.
The counselling and
awareness centres are engaged in a wide range of awareness generation
programmes in varied community settings including village panchayats
and schools. Besides these centres, the Ministry has been actively
utilising various media channels, print as well as audio-visual,
for educating the people on the ill effects of drug abuse and
also disseminating information .
A National Centre
for Drug Abuse Prevention (NC-DAP) has been set up by the Ministry.
Functioning under the agies of the National Institute of Social
Defence it meets the demand of service providers who endeavour
to reduce the demand for drugs and bring about a qualitative improvement
in the service delivery. The NC-DAP is serving as an apex body
in the country in the field of training, research and documentation
for drug abuse prevention. It is mandated to serve as a centre
of excellence in the region where it functions. The Ministry is
also implementing a project on "Developing Community Drug
Rehabilitation and Workplace Prevention Programme"in
collaboration with UNDOC and the International Labour Organisation
(ILO). The project’s objective is to sensitise and train voluntary
organisations on prevention of alcoholism and substance abuse
at the workplace. A number of corporate institutions have also
volunteered their involvement in the project.
The Ministry of Social
Justice & Empowerment is also collaborating with the Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare for convergence and integration of
services for TB, HIV/AIDs/STDs and other medical complications
related to alcohol or drug abuse. One hundred Drug Treatment-cum-Rehabilitation
Centres funded by the Ministry have been provided with an additional
field worker for HIV/AIDS prevention activities. This is being
done under a collaborative agreement between the Ministry and
the National AIDS Control Organisation ( NACO).
Meanwhile, the Ministry
has taken up the issue of setting up model centres in rural and
urban areas for providing integrated rehabilitation services with
the concerned State governments. These would include outreaching
the addicts, providing counselling, treatment and rehabilitation.
The studies reveal
that the efforts being made to prevent drug addiction are far
too little as compared to the magnitude and dimensions of the
problem. Most vulnerable target groups are yet to be reached.
One of the impeding factors has been ignorance and the social
stigma attached to the issue of drug abuse with very few people
willing to talk about it. The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya, has called for initiating a broad-based
dialogue on this issue to remove the silence and stigma attached
to the malaise while creating widespread awareness about it.
Drug abuse is not
merely the problem of the addicts but of the entire society. The
people, particularly the children and youth, are prone to fall
easy prey to it. This has to be stopped by all means (PIB Features)
*Inputs
by Shri M.L. Dhar, Information Officer, PIB, New Delhi.
