The concept of carrying capacity refers to the maximum population size that a given environment can sustain, based on available resources such as food, water, and habitat. The Earth’s human carrying capacity has been widely debated, with estimates ranging from 2 billion to 40 billion people, depending on lifestyle and resource consumption. Currently, the global population is over 8 billion, which raises concerns about whether we are nearing or exceeding the Earth’s limits. Historical estimates, such as Antony van Leeuwenhoek's 13.4 billion in 1679, highlight the complexity of determining a definitive figure, with modern estimates converging around 8 billion.
Human carrying capacity is influenced by technology and lifestyle. A more resource-intensive lifestyle reduces the Earth’s carrying capacity, while a sustainable way of living can support a larger population. Once the population exceeds the Earth’s carrying capacity, the first to suffer are typically the most vulnerable communities. In this context, addiction can be seen as one of nature’s mechanisms to limit population growth, along with disease, famine, and other natural challenges.
Theories of population growth, like those proposed by Thomas Malthus and Pierre Verhulst, are crucial to understanding human expansion. Malthus suggested that populations grow exponentially when resources are abundant, but once resources become limited, population growth slows in a logistic manner, as Verhulst argued. Today, while the global population continues to grow, the rate has slowed from 2% in the 1960s to 0.87% in 2024. However, for true sustainability, societies must control birth rates, or nature will impose restrictions through disease, wars, or other crises.
The increase in prevalence of the addiction and non-communicable diseases mainly depends on the moral development or ethical development of human beings. If the interactions of people with environment remain ethical, the human population will have improved quality of life and the prevalence of addiction and non-communicable diseases will decrease. Other-wise, these problems will increase and tend to divide the human population into two categories (i) one who are intelligent and adopt the fine skills for survival and (ii) other who will continuously lose the skills and eventually become socially and reproductively unfit to be selected by the nature.
The second group includes tribals, undernourished poor people and people who are undisciplined and do not respect the code of conduct of society. The second group will accumulate the maladaptive behaviours including behaviours related addiction and over the generations, cladogenesis will result in where new species of Homo sapiens appears which cease to interbreed with first group. The non- interbreeding may be due to social reason, i.e., the members of second group may be rejected for marriage, and may be due to infertility induced by substance use/alcohol use. The second group will be weaker enough to compete with the first group and prone to extinct. The extinction of second group is the mechanism of decreasing the population on the earth.
Can we imagine the role of addiction in sub-speciation of second group? In addition to alcohol, other substance like ganja/bhang, brown sugar, dendrites/whiteners, are on rise to affect the mass of the Jharkhand. Many school children and college students with problems of addiction who are brought to RINPAS, Kanke, Ranchi for detoxification and treatment. The children or students with addiction reveal that the illicit drugs like brown sugar, cocaine etc, are very easily available at every corner of Ranchi. There have been the patients of addiction from renowned engineering colleges/universities who reported the stress as reason for addiction. Initially they started substances to increase efficiency of study and later on they became stress-inducing substances if the students abstain from the substances. Most of the addicts prefer taking substance in group. Most of the tribal addicts were unaware of the negative consequences of the substances. Their family members do not have idea about how could have been prevented their children from being addicted / dependent on the substance.
National Mental Health Survey, 2015-16 reports that the substance use disorders /addictions are affecting 22.4 % population in India. The detrimental effects of addiction may be on the victims of the addiction, their family, the societies where they live in, and on the government health care system. Medical and psychiatric problems, financial loss, family bankruptcy, loss of the peace in the family, stressed relationship between family and neighbours, divorce/separation of spouses, school /college drop-out, unemployment and increasing crime rates are negative consequences of addiction.
Why are the tribal communities prone to addiction? A tribal community has same composition of its members as the non-tribal communities do, so proportion of teenage members is also same. Most of the people with addiction coming to RINPAS, OPD, Kanke, Ranchi reveal that they start taking substance usually alcohol at their teens when they are in group. The tribals have inherent traits of taking decision in group. They enjoy the group activities like hunting and working in group. This trait also encourages the tribal youths not to resist the decision of taking alcohol imposed on him by their peer group. Tribal teens have similar onset of problems but they are more exposed to easy availability of substances, cultural sanction of substance use and peer pressure for substance use. Such predisposition has been augmented by the improved purchasing power due to recent liberalization and globalization. Food security provided by the government has further increased the tribal addicts to maintain and continue their drinking habit. It was the time 40 years back, in a typical tribal village, when a tribal in fact would start the drinking in his teenage but the he did not have the money to continue his drinking. Thus, his habit was self-limiting. As a result, only few people were dependent on alcohol. Now, the number of tribal people, who continue the use of alcohol as well as other substances like ganja, has increased.
The tribal youths have yet not realized the positive impacts of liberalization and globalization. The liberalization and globalization have increased temporarily the purchasing power of tribal people whose lands have been acquired by the companies and who have been compensated with money and colonies. The tribals who live in such colonies report that the grand-fathers who consented for land acquisition by companies could not save money and their children remained unskilled, uneducated and unfit to be accommodated in today’s globalized society. The conditions of grand-sons have further deteriorated. Now they are marginalized and live in a ghettoized society where all kinds of stress compel them to addiction. The addiction maintains vicious cycle of degradation of their behaviors.
Similar phenomenon takes place in the villages around the townships of Jharkhand. Jharkhand is rich in minerals which attracts the businessmen from other part of the countries. The value of land of such villages has gone up and most of the lands belong to tribal people. The tribal people sell lands and they are not able to utilize the money they get in lieu of their lands. This is my personal observation about the villages around Dumka, the second capital of Jharkhand. In these villages, very few males live beyond the age of 40 years. It is comparable to Hazdabe tribe of African countries whose life expectancy at birth is 31.9 years. This is more or less story of the villages around all small and large town of Jharkhand.
Over past 30 years, behaviours of teenage tribals of Jharkhand have changed a lot. Tribal adolescents were shy but creative by nature; they were less argumentative; they would not have their own thesis; they were hesitant in expressing their views in public. Whatever be the reasons, be it genetic, educational, economic or social; some changes have appeared in their behaviours. Now they are bold; they are not harm avoidant; they experiment with new substances other than alcohol. Their objects of abuse have extended.
Can we imagine how alcohol is damaging our generation from their conception in womb? Most of tribal people live in rural areas. National Family and Health Survey-5 reveal that 7.4 % rural women in Jharkhand consume alcohol which is more than national percentage (1.2%) of rural women. 38.7 % rural men in Jharkhand consume alcohol which is more than percentage (19.9%) of rural men of India. It is obvious that tribal men and women are indulged in alcohol abuse in Jharkhand. It has also been reported in reputed journals that most of the women, who use alcohol before pregnancy, are likely to use alcohol during pregnancy. The detrimental effect of alcohol to which tribal babies is exposed while they are growing in womb. An embryo needs repairing and remodeling (differentiation) while developing into a fetus/baby. The alcohol affects SHH gene that is responsible for repair and development of fetus. The deficiency of vitamins is also common in alcohol addicts which adversely affects the development of fetus. As a result of addiction, the fetus which develops with anomaly, may get aborted or may survive till delivery. In case, the fetus is delivered live, it may have many physical and mental deficits which make him/her as adult weak enough to withstand the health problems, social challenges and environmental adversities. Alcohol also affects sperm count and sperm motility adversely in males.
Is there any adequate mechanism in place in Jharkhand to prevent a certain community from addiction? The government programs and policies are based on two principles: (i)Complete abstinence e.g., Dry state like Bihar (ii)Harm reduction/control drinking e.g., Jharkhand. There are rules for illicit drugs which government narcotic department which is trying unsuccessfully to restrict the supply. It also has few de-addiction centers where the persons with addiction are detoxified and counselled for relapse prevention.
Both approaches have failed. The first approach would have been successful to some extent if they were implemented simultaneously in all states /UTs. The successful implementation of second approach depends on level of morale of the government officials, mental health professionals, availability of substances, non-availability of alternative recreational facilities and the positive and active participation of general population. How is the dry state exploited by general population, officials, or other stake-holders? My village with 100 households is located near the border of Bihar, a dry state. Before Bihar was declared a dry state, my village has only 3-5 families who were engage in distillation of mahua. In 2016, Bihar has banned sale and consumption. Since 2016, my village alone has 10-15 families who distil mahua and they supply mahua 70-90 liters daily to border of Bihar. Administration of border of Bihar is very active in supporting the people involved in such supply.
Do we realize the individual’s wellbeing totally depends on his adaptation to the environment? Institutions like state or country are established to regulate the behaviors of its citizens but have failed to regulate especially the behavior related to substance or alcohol intake. This is because such behaviors related to alcohol are intimately related to positive emotion. Human being has a tendency not to forget things or objects which are emotionally related and he cries or craves for them whenever the objects get away from him. So, one should realize that the environment i.e., things or people around, would not change much, it is you who could bring about change in your behavior. The programs and policies regarding control of substance abuse are kind of guidelines that you can follow to improve yourself. They would not force you to improve your behavior. Your interactions with people around or things like alcohol, around will make you miserable or happy.
In conclusion, addiction seems to divide the population in two groups: (i) One group of people who abuse substances who would not realize and acknowledge that substance use is a problem. They would adopt the culture of substance use. Over the generations, they use substance and damage their sperm and ovum and zygote (fetus) in the uterus/womb. Their offspring would receive inadequate genetic heritage to withstand the challenges posed by increasing population and globalization. They would lose the intra-species competition and eventually get extinct. This group seems to include the tribals and poor people. (ii)Another group would sense the consequences related to substance abuse. They would avoid such bad substances and adopt good life style and food habit. Thus, not only they preserve their genetic heritage but they also would improve their genetic material. Their children would be more competitive than that of the first group. They would give moral teachings to their children. Their children will be more confident to face the challenges in their life. They would have better social fitness and reproductive fitness to be selected by nature.
The writer is Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, RINPAS, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
