As the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was held in Dehradun on Tuesday, doctors and those who run the rehabilitation centres warned the people, particularly the youth, against falling prey to the substance abuse. They also aired serious concern over the substance abuse assuming grim form among the students studying in the city and urged for a serious discourse over the menace and concrete steps to curb it before it is too late.
Talking to The Pioneer, a neuropsychologist and CBSE counsellor Dr Sona Kaushal Gupta said that drug abuse is eating its way deep into the society with the youngsters and adults alike getting entrapped. Citing figures culled during her study, she said that 45 percent of the youth is alcoholic while a significant percent is under the addiction of different kinds of narcotics. “Now, substance abuse is being used in the place of the drug abuse as the addicts are using inhalers, Vicks, some solutions and whiteners for intoxication. The youth seems to escape from the world of reality into a fantasy world through using such substances which is bound to ruin their health and leave them both mentally and physically crippled in the long run. Drug addiction is something pathological.
Two things happen to an addict. Either he takes drugs in more and more quantity as his capacity rises or he seeks to rid himself of it and finds it terribly difficult. While in the first case, the addicts go for more and more to feel the stimulate state of ecstasy for a greater duration and in the second case they who fail to rid themselves of the deadly habit turn restless with possibility of their losing mental equilibrium,” she said.
Coordinator and counsellor of Dehradun-based Nijaat Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Centre Yogesh Dobhal said that the centre has presently 14 people aged between eight to 21 years. “We usually allow them to stay here for 100 days. However, those who think they can fall prey again once out might stay here for one year,” he said.
He further said that it is very worrisome that the students and the youths are, in particular, coming under the substance abuse. “They are using many means to intoxicate them. They inhale smack and the like. They inject substances,” he added.