Drug, alcohol addiction rampant among youngsters

As per official data, though not updated, 7.32 crore people in India are affected by drugs and alcohol.

The menace of drugs is a problem that is not specific to just Punjab, but, according to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, it is estimated that 7.32 crore people in India are affected by drugs and alcohol, though this is not the latest data.The Ministry had last conducted a survey on the use of drugs and alcohol in 2000-2001 in which the Ministry had found that 87 lakh people used cannabis, 20 lakh used opiates, while 625 people were alcohol users. However, the Ministry has not conducted any such survey since then.

Surprisingly, youths are among the most affected ones in the country. Many have already lost their adolescence to addiction, while many are still being lured to addiction, while some are grappling to come out of it.

Gagan ( name changed), now in his mid-thirties, was a heroin addict for the past 12 years, but after recovery, he has not touched it for the past 10 years. According to him, he started with alcohol and then slowly moved to heroin.

“It was during my days in Bombay, where I went to try my luck in modeling, that I was introduced to heroin by some of my friends. Young and under peer pressure, I took to heroin out of curiosity, thinking it was the fashionable thing to do,” Gagan said. However, Gagan soon became an addict. “For an addict who is into such substances, life becomes dependent on them. I lost my sleeping pattern, had no discipline in life, no relations, and lost everything good in my life,” he said.

“It was then that my parents decided to put me into a rehab,” Gagan said, but the process of de-addiction was even more painful. “Withdrawal symptoms during de-addiction are very painful. During the process, I did not sleep for 16 days. I was suffering from acute pain in my muscles, used to get stomach cramps and at times, during the early days of withdrawal, one tends to become very violent. But thanks to my mentors who helped me get a new life, I am sober for the past 10 years. I do not even drink alcohol now,” Gagan said.

Sanjay Mathur, founder and director of Roar Wellness, a well-known drug rehabilitation centre in the national capital, was himself an addict to both alcohol and heroin since he was 14 years old. However, he had been cured in 1996, and ever since then, he had been running two drug-rehabilitation centres in Delhi, with the help of several other staff and counsellors who were once addicts themselves.

Mathur said that he was lured into alcoholism at the age of 14 after an emotional setback when he lost his brother. “At the age of 20, I slowly became a heroin addict. My father worked abroad, and my mother was busy raising her kids who were younger to me and, in between, I was lost to drugs and alcohol,” Mathur said.

“I started living in my own world with my own whims and fancies. I had no discipline in my life, and lost my health, career, education, family, and relationships. My family tried to put me to several rehabs, but I used to run away from them. However, at the age of 29, my father put me in a rehab called Kripa Foundation in Delhi. That changed my life and I got back everything that I had lost,” Mathur added. In keeping with the dreams of his mother, Mathur started two drug rehabilitation centres in Delhi after his recovery, the Rama Drug de-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre and the Roar Wellness centre in Delhi.

Mathur said that the process of de-addiction is difficult and takes months. During the four-month course, the addict is put through a strict routine to infuse discipline is his/her life. Once admitted, the addict undergoes a comprehensive blood investigation to assess the types of substances he was addicted to and the nature of damage they have done to his body.

The addict is then subjected to physical exercises and yoga on a regular basis for mental and physical well-being, after which, in the initial days, psychological sessions are conducted and counselors narrate such stories from books that connect to their way of life.

The addicts are also asked to write fond memories of their loved ones and stories of their life, including memories from their childhood, parents, siblings, etc. Psychologists call this the “detox” method to bring out emotions, nature and habits of patients.

Activities like peer bonding, creative arts, lessons on de-addiction, ego and anger management are assigned to patients daily to help them slowly recover.

Not only drugs, alcohol addiction is also a major problem that many young people in the country have to grapple with. Shruti (name changed) was a heavy alcohol addict for the past seven years and said that she could not sleep without drinking. This had ruined her personal life and she neglected her children and family. However, she became sober after she stopped drinking for two years.

Dr Priyanka, a clinical sychologist working with addicts, said, “An addict’s psyche is very self-centered and his coping skills are very weak. Addicts usually do not accept the fact that they are addicts and breaking the denial mode is half the job done as they are in constant denial. Relapses occur because parents neglect and feel that they are cured.”

Anuneasycalmprevails in the corridors of power in Kerala these days. Even two months after the IAS lobby threatened to go on mass casual leave in protest against the “highhandedness” of the State Vigilance director, Jacob Thomas, there is an air of mistrust among top bureaucrats. While the IAS officers see IPS cadre Jacob Thomas as the villain of the piece, the Left Front government, especially Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is solidly behind the Vigilance Director. Thomas is charged with a deliberate attempt to implicate IAS officers in vigilance cases. What prompted IAS officers to plot such a strike was the Vigilance action against the additional chief secretary in the Industrial Department, Paul Antony. Before Antony, Vigilance had taken action against additional chief secretaries, Dr K.M. Abraham and Tom Jose. Paul Antony’s crime was that he had signed the appointment order of one Sudhir Nambiar, who turned out to be a close relative of the then Industries Minister, E.P. Jayarajan, who was subsequently forced to quit on allegations of nepotism. Since the case was referred to the Vigilance Department, it filed an FIR against Paul Antony. All that Antony did was sign the file which was approved by the minister. But once an FIR was filed, Antony remains an accused till the case is resolved. But the case may not come before the court in the near future and the FIR will hang on Antony’s head like the proverbial sword of Damocles. This, the IAS officers believe, is a deliberate attempt by the IPS lobby, of which DGP Jacob Thomas is the most visible face, to discredit honest officers.

Jacob Thomas, who was in the doghouse during the

“Withdrawal symptoms during de-addiction are very painful. During the process, I did not sleep for 16 days. I was suffering from acute pain in my muscles, and at times, one tends to become very violent too.”

previous United Democratic Front government led by Congress, found favour with the LDF and assumed charge as Vigilance Director with much fanfare last June. Ironically, the UDF government had removed him from that very post following certain “embarrassing” decisions taken by Thomas. During that tenure, Jacob was responsible for the raid against a former PWD secretary, T.O. Sooraj, an action which had surprised the UDF government. However, a remorseless Thomas, while taking charge this time said his target was to set up a creative vigilance that would “avert chances of corruption”. He then created a flutter by pulling out yellow and red cards from his pocket to indicate that those indulging in corruption will have to “face the music” and hence will not get away that easily. But once he started pulling out those red cards more against top level IAS officers rather than tainted politicians, of which many belong to the ruling CPM itself, many suspected his real intentions. Most of the civil servants saw it as a blatant case of vendetta since they had levelled serious allegations of corruption against the Vigilance Director himself, to which the government of the time has turned blind eye.

Among the charges was Thomas’ mishandling of certain dealings while heading the Port Trust which cost the state exchequer over Rs 50 crore. But the most damaging of all accusations was acquisition of about 150 acres of forestland in nearby Karnataka state, which he had not included in his wealth declaration. What had irked the IAS lobby was the silence of the LDF government on these allegations. But last week, when an Opposition MLA levelled fresh charges of corruption against Jacob Thomas, the Chief Minister himself had to rise in defence of his Vigilance Director in the Assembly. Congress MLA M. Vincent, who raised the issue in the House, alleged that the Vigilance Director, while on a crusade against corruption himself was indulging in the same malpractices. According to Vincent, Jacob Thomas had bought 50 acres of land in village Settur of Tamil Nadu’s Rajapalayam, Virudhunagar district, in the name of a private company. This has not been disclosed to the government. This deal was allegedly done while Thomas was serving as Commissioner of Police, Kochi. Thomas had, Vincent alleged, bought the land as director of

Refuting charges against Jacob Thomas as concocted by vested interests who want to see the back of him, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan categorically said there was no question of removing him on the basis of media reports.