Dr. Mehnaz Choudhary
“Not even God himself could sink this ship” believed to be statement by an employee of the White Star Line at the launch of the Titanic and we all know the fate it met. The same is true about the drug abuse in present times which we believe is the problem of the West.
Menace of drug abuse has been prevalent in the society since long and the same has been reflected in Indian cinema as well. Various bollywood movies like Hare Rama Hare Krishna to the recent Udta Punjab revolve around the evil of drug abuse and have portrayed the menace in one context or another.
The prevalence of drug abuse can be judged from the trends reflected by the survey on the Extent, Pattern and Trends of Drug Abuse in India jointly released by The United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNDOC) and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India which revealed that India’s population had twice the global number of Drug Abusers with nearly three million dependents on cannabis and other opium drugs. The need of the hour is to strengthen the reinforcement against the evil of drug addiction before it gets institutionalised and drugs are as easily available as grocery items.
Hard to believe that this phenomenon would be knocking at our doors but we will be living in fools paradise to ignore its very presence. The death of the youngsters in and around Jammu speaks in testimony of the same in which even Challans have been produced by Crime Branch against drug peddlers. Various reports of police indicate interstate drug rackets targeting school kids as well.
Drug abuse has become a major problem of the society over the years. The illicit drugs have a high addiction potential and there is a gradual increase in their intake. The user gets dependent on these drugs both physically and psychologically.
Before we carry forward our discussion let us first understand what drug abuse is
Addiction is defined as “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterised by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain; they change its structure and how it works.”
Addiction is a medical condition that is characterised by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences. They increase the likelihood that a person will seek repeated exposure to them and the stimuli is perceived as being positive or desirable by the addict.
The common drug addiction in our society are- alcoholism, amphetamine addiction, cocaine, nicotine and opiates addiction and in common parlance known as Bhukki (Poppy), Kaali Naagni (Opium), Chitta (Heroin), Santra (Desi Daru), Neela Ghora (Blue Pills), Lal Ghora (Red Pills), Coke (Corex). Adolescents represent a unique vulnerability for developing addiction
Consequences of drug use: A compulsive and maladaptive dependence on a drug produces adverse psychological, physical, economic, social or legal ramifications.
The ABC of helping a drug addict
A (Acceptance): Accept the fact as keeping yourself in denial.
B (Believing): Believe in yourself and be positive
C (Consistency): Be consistent in your plan and action.
Drug rehabilitation: It includes medical and psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol prescription drugs and street drugs such as – cocaine, heroine and amphetamines. The general intent of drug rehab is to enable the patient to cease the substance abuse in order to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social and physical consequences of drug addiction. There is one Mashwara drug de-addiction centre at village Purkhoo Domana, Jammu offering services like alcoholism treatment, other drug addiction treatment detoxification out patient, residential rehabilitation, substance abuse counselling. Mashwara Kendra is a residential multi disciplinary 15 bedded hospital conducted by professional team of psychiatrist, physician, social workers, and counsellors and nursing staff. It covers the treatment of alcoholism and drugs both medically and psychologically.
Moreover the department of Health, J and K Government has come up with Drug De-Addiction Centre at Psychiatric Hospital Jammu where a large number of addicts/ patients are benefitted by the experts in the subject.
Various types of de-addiction programmes are offered which include: residential treatment (in- patient), out-patient, local support groups, extended care centres, addiction counselling, mental health and medical care.
For individuals addicted to prescription drugs, treatment is similar to those who are addicted to drugs affecting the same brain systems. For eg. medications like methadone and buprenorphine can be used to treat opiod addiction (like heroine, morphine and oxy codone). Naitrexone, aamprosate, disulfiram etc. can be used to treat alcohol addiction.
Traditional de-addiction is based on counselling. Counsellors help the addict to identify behaviours and problem related to their addiction. It can be done on individual or group counselling on daily or weekly basis.
To conclude it must be kept in mind that drug abuse is just a tip of an iceberg of larger social evils and is a reflection of society as a whole which needs to be fought by the society collectively and not only in hospitals or clinics.
( The author is a Consultant Pathologist by profession)
