While the Dehradun police claim to have started a full blown drive against the suppliers and retailers of hard drugs in the district, an expert said that departments concerned need to work together in order to work effectively against the increasing drug abuse among the youngsters and then the rehabilitation procedure. He also alleged that most of the rehab centres have become the place of choice for criminals seeking shelter under the guise of addicts. These rehab centres also lack proper professional care because of which sometimes it is not only the addicts who take treatment there, but also those who are not mentally stable. In addition to that he said that it is high time that the educational institutions also start taking responsibility for the students who spend most of their time in these institutions and end up abusing substances.
Clinical psychologist Dr Mukul Sharma said, “Police department, Anti-Drug Task Force (ADTF), narcotics and then the health department-- they all work according to their individual capacity with no accountability whatsoever. Then the rehab centres here have become commercialised. People without proper knowledge and professional skills are giving treatment, again with no accountability. So, first and foremost step that the authorities should take is to ensure accountability. If a given amount of drug is found at a place, the Station House Officer should be held responsible.”
He added, “If the maximum supply is from Bareilly then border police there should be held accountable. It is understandable that they cannot check every vehicle, but then this is hard to accept than not even once in a while they come across of some bulk cotraband. Then there is the health department-- the number of prescription drugs that are being sold in the market without prescription is increasing every year, but the health department just conducts checks and seizures for formality.”
Speaking about educational institutions he said, “Dehradun is known as the educational hub, but now this hub is turning into a cluster of drug clubs. Most of the students studying in colleges here are from outside Dehradun. After getting freedom and under peer pressure they start taking drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or tobacco. There was a time when doing all these things were considered social stigma, now they have become a medium to increase your status quotient. Why these educational institutions are not held accountable for at least identifying students who are going in the wrong direction and providing them with appropriate counselling, when they charge fees in lakhs yearly?”
Sharing statistics he said, “According to a study, the shops nearby one of the private universities in Premnagar collect revenue of Rs 2.5 lakh per month from selling cigarettes alone. This is the legal transaction; one can only imagine the revenue people selling drugs or alcohol must be earning.”
Saurav Malhotra, administrator at non-governmental organisation Nijaat- alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre said, “We at Nijaat work at two levels, one is to help those people who have become dependent so that they can come out of the state of addiction and second thing we do is to conduct awareness sessions at all levels, right from community to school and colleges, even government institution.”
He further stated, “We have had patients right from the age of eight years to 82 years. During awareness sessions among the students we found that the in most of the cases a person who is not emotionally healthy tries to find an alternate medium to find emotional comfort, relief or peace. Taking a substance boils down to the fact the person has unresolved issue right from the childhood.”
When asked that whether youngsters experiment with these substances for fun, he said, “Being a former drug addict I can say that fun part came later. I started smoking at the age of eight. Initially I smoked to feel like a grown up. I had self-worth issues. Second thing that drove me towards nicotine was that it had become a status symbol. After using the the substance twice or thrice it started affecting me, relaxing and calming that is what kept me motivated to use it for the next 17 years.”
When asked what shall be done to create awareness he said, “Till we do not address the root issue as to why a person moves towards nicotine subsequently alcohol and other drugs, till we do not address the issues of personality development specially emotional wellness, till this does not become part of our education system, there is little scope that youngsters will be able to abstain from these substances.”
It is pertinent to mention here that following the instructions issued by Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arun Mohan Joshi, local police have been targeting retailers and suppliers of drugs in Dehradun.
