New Delhi, June 25
Warned of hazards of growing drug abuse, the government is planning to commission a national household survey to determine the extent of drug consumption in India.
The study will, for the first time, focus on the prevalence of synthetic drug use (including ecstasy) in the country, with the UNODC’s world drug report cautioning the developing world against increased Amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) consumption.
The UNODC has already sounded the alarm on ATS use, with top officials saying, “In the period ahead, the use of synthetic drugs may become the most serious problem ever faced”.
South Asia representative for the UNODC Christina Albertin today told the Tribune of the government’s will to hold a nation-wide survey, considering the last drug use study was published in 2004; it was based on the 2001 data.
“We are concerned that we still do not have national prevalence estimates of the ATS consumption in India and China. These gaps are major given the size of these countries (India has 0.73 billion persons aged 16 to 64). Such gaps have an enormous impact upon the level of certainty of both regional and global ATS use estimates,” Albertin said, adding that the government had agreed to hold a national survey that would look at the lifetime and periodic prevalence of the ATS drugs like ecstasy as well as alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cocaine etc. She was assured of the step in her meeting with the revenue secretary.
The forthcoming budget document will make funds available for the mammoth exercise, it is learnt. Regarding synthetic drug abuse in India, it is said to be huge considering the authorities have even started reporting seizures of ecstasy.
The world drug report released yesterday also concluded that in India, methamphetamine trafficking via the border of Myanmar, the source of much of Asia’s methamphetamine, is increasing.
