Drug epidemic waiting to finish Gen Next in Himachal Pradesh

Kuldeep Chauhan 

Drug addiction among the youth has assumed alarming proportions in the state due to the easy availability of all kinds of drugs and relative economic prosperity. 

Experts have underscored the need to launch a multipronged onslaught on drug mafias and start drug de-addiction centres to treat and counsel victims.

“So far, the role of drug enforcement authorities has come under suspicion, as the state police have been nabbing either small-time couriers or victims. Most of them are too young, which has added to the burden on the family members of the victims,” experts said. The actual big fish and suppliers who operate the ragtag chain of these couriers remain out of the police net, they said. 

Some drug mafia have amassed properties in disproportion to their known sources of income in places like Shimla, Kullu, Manali, Solan, Dharamsala, Chamba, Baddi, Nalagarh and Nahan, but the police have failed to nab them, reveals a former enforcement officer.   

No stats available

Nobody knows the exact figures of drug addiction in the state, but the mental health experts estimate that 1 per cent of the population suffer from mental health problem and fall in the trap of drug-related addiction. The drug mafia targets schoolchildren to make quick bucks, but there is no exact study available explaining how vast the menace is, they said.   

‘Govt making efforts’ 

Health Minister Vipin Parmar said most of the drug de-addiction centres are being run by NGOs in the state and they have to follow norms and guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry and the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment. The government has already started a campaign against drug addiction and started six drug de-addiction centres in six medical colleges on Nasha Mukt Divas on June 26 this year. “We have allocated Wednesday as a special day for the treatment and counselling of drug addicts,” he said, adding: “We will start drug de-addiction centres in 150 community health centres across the state, where patients can get treatment and counselling facility on their doorstep. We are also trying to educate the families of victims. As many as 280 doctors are being trained for the purpose, who will provide both treatment and counselling to patients online.” 

Talking about running of drug de-addiction centres in the state, the chief executive officer of the newly constituted State Mental Health Authority (SMHA), Dr Sanjay Pathak said: “All mental health establishments, including naturopathy, ayurveda, siddha and homeopathy will be registered with the mental health authority under Section 65 of the Mental Healthcare Act.  All psychiatric wards and NGOs running de-addiction and rehabilitative services are being registered under the Act with the SMHA.”

Dr Pathak said 1 per cent of the population suffers from mental illnesses in the state. “But only a few come to the hospital because of social stigma. Many try to seek relief from the occult and magical practices. With awareness, the illness is treatable and more people can be brought into treatment network,” he said.  

Mental illness causes

Psychiatrists say there are many bio-psycho-social factors, which cause mental illness. Genes can also be a cause, but psychological and social environment plays a larger role in unmasking the disease, they said. “Social factors are triggered by urbanisation, consumerism, nuclear families, poverty and illiteracy. They contribute to the vulnerability of a person to mental illnesses. Life goals and gaps, which creep into the goals we set for ourselves, result in despair, disappointments and depression and youth take to drugs out of fashion or stress,” says a psychologist at the IGMC. 

But drug victims after treatment face relapse, for which the family needs to be counselled. “No single agency is responsible for the easy availability of drugs in the state,” said parents of the victims, citing the penetration of the internet, video films and dearth of alternative and more meaningful avenues of recreation as other major factors.

“We wake up only when drug addicts get violent, break houses, beat their parents or commit suicide,” says a doctor lamenting lack of united action and teamwork in combating drugs. Anti-drug rallies, after all, are a one-day affair and are more a ritual than anything else, he said.

The susceptible 

Arvind Kumar, president of Naya Savera, the only de-addiction centre in Kullu valley, attributes the drug epidemic to a ‘crisis of relationship’. He himself struggled hard to give up on drugs 25 years ago. People who lack confidence are susceptible to drugs, which allow them to escape from virtual reality, he said. 

He feels strong family bond, better communication and healthier relationships are the key antidotes to drugs.

The de-addiction centre at Jhiri, he points out, treats a large number of youngsters and the number of school-goers approaching the centre for help is alarming.

Drugs, claimed some of these school students, are freely available outside schools and colleges all over the state. Peer pressure often prompts school boys to try out forbidden drugs.

Foreign tourists, especially budget tourists or back-packers, have added a touch of glamour by holding “full moon”, rave parties and group celebrations, in which drugs appear to play a significant role. But police action outside schools or at these parties is rare, said parents.

A counsellor at a de-addiction centre said there were young people who not only become addicts, but are also seriously toyed with the idea of becoming a drug-don, attracted by easy money and high margins the trade continues to offer.

In Kullu, Manali and Shimla, many youngsters, after picking up addiction while following foreigners, start bunking schools to look for drugs. 

An alarmingly high percentage of school-going children in the region seem to be aware of drugs and how these taste, indicate unofficial surveys.

Addicts, says a victim, begins by stealing household goods and progressively turn to more serious crime to get money to purchase drugs. “Many addicts suffer from serious memory lapse. Three youngsters died recently in Rohru and Theog due to the overdose of chitta, which has become a new rage among the youth of the apple belt,” warned a doctor at the IGMC.  

“Teenagers from affluent families and even girls seem to be taking up drugs, although they do not come to de-addiction centres in the state for treatment,” a counsellor said. They can afford to get treated outside, he adds, claiming: “Most of these rich brats take to drugs to overcome boredom.”

The Health Minister said the government has launched an all out campaign against the menace of drugs. “We seek cooperation of the community, NGOs and police to make this campaigning a public movement against drug addiction and its hazards and will produce positive results soon,” he said.

Most of the drug de-addiction centres are being run by NGOs in the state and they have to follow norms and guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry and the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment. The government has already started a campaign against drug addiction and six drug de-addiction centres in six medical colleges on Nasha Mukt Divas on June 26 this year. We have allocated Wednesday as a special day for the treatment and counselling of drug addicts. We will start drug de-addiction centres in 150 community health centres across the state, where patients can get treatment and counselling facility on their doorstep. Vipin Parmar, State Health Minister