Drug abuse is a menace and increasing at epidemic rates nationwide. It is harmful at any age; however, reducing the drug use or initiation of drugs in adolescence is crucial for controlling overall drug use and abuse because people are most susceptible to adopting the usage of drugs during their adolescent years.
Therefore, young people who refrain from substance use until the age of 21 seldom become drug users later in life. Moreover, the earlier initiation of drugs in life increases the chances of users becoming more susceptible to addiction. Thus, preventing the use of drugs among young is a crucial public health goal for the country.
Indian schools have steadily become the new haven for drugs, with Delhi leading the stats on the facts. But Delhi is just a model for rapidly rising substance abuse in India among the youth, as such issues are prevalent in every state, and it is the children who are paying the price. In 2018 and 2019 alone, several media reports also highlighted how drug cartels had set their eyes on our teens today, and these young students are increasingly vulnerable to substance abuse, owing to peer pressure, parental neglect and denial, and in many cases as a result of poverty.
The consumption of drugs has severe developmental, economic and psychological consequences for the user and their families. Additionally, societies are faced with an increased number of juvenile crimes, instances of violence and traffic accidents, amongst other menacing outcomes. According to a report commissioned by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in 2017, cannabis and opioid use and dependence in Delhi are among the highest in the country. Moreover, according to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, over 90% of street children in the national capital are addicted to drugs.
Several government-led advocacy and awareness programs with schools and with students have tried to bridge the significant gaps in our response to this crisis, which needs a holistic advocacy campaign that aims at the identification, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of young offenders.
There is a need to recognise that drug and alcohol abuse, drug trafficking, and related criminal activity are acutely co-related. The absence of an adequate response remains a serious problem that negatively affects the lives of most young Indians over a long period of their lives. There is also a need to create pragmatic advocacy programs that move away from social shaming towards creating participatory social movements.
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