Repeated use of certain drugs may make the body dependent onthem. This is what we call “drug addiction or habituation”. The termaddiction in actual sense got its birth from a latin word which in a broadersense means “bound to ” or “enslaved by “. If you haveovercome this thing sometime in your life or you have helped someone else to doso, you’ll surely understand -why?
According to a recent research conducted in the valley andground reports from various student groups of different departments ofUniversity of Kashmir, youth, particularly in the age group of 15 -30, areinvolved in this terrible menace. The reports also reveal that this menace isnow not restricted to a particular gender, and there are enough evidences toshow that young girls of the valley are also getting trapped.
Drug addiction in Kashmir has increased manyfold. Suchaffected people create problems for themselves and for their families and thesociety. According to a recent report from JK health department, in previousfew years the number of youth diagnosed with hepatitis-B is increasing and thisthing can be correlated with a report obtained from WHO which laid emphasis onthe fact that Hepatitis-B and AIDS are common in drug addicts as they useinfected needles to inject the liquid formulations. Prolonged use of drugs maycause impotency and even chromosomal abnormalities.
The worst problem with drug menace is that government itselfand the people who want to stop this menace don’t know how to combat it. Beforedoing anything, we ought to first ask ourselves what leads a particular personto jump in such a hellfire? And after coming to know that, it becomes easier todevise a policy. Here are some of the reasons why youth become drug dependent.
There are many factors that may lead people to drugaddiction like curiosity of having personal experience of drugs due to frequentreferences to drugs by public media. Certain others take drugs to have fun andto escape from boredom. Among other causes are frustration, depression, relieffrom pain, family history and easy availability of drugs. A wrong notion thatdrugs open up a new world tempts such youngsters to take drugs. Moreover somepeople with drug addiction display a nice behaviour so that their illegal actis not detected. By the time they are detected, they are already addicted andcannot give up the habit.
There are some early associated symptoms with drug addiction.If we trace them it may help us to nip the evil in bud. Early signs of drugdependence may include academic deterioration as indicated by poor performancein class and examinations, evasion of family duties and responsibilities,change in behaviour – such as violence, sudden mood swings, quick changes infriend circle and personality.
Prevention of addiction :
De-addiction can be done by specially trained personas. Thegeneral treatment often given to overcome the addiction is to replace the drugwith a less reinforcing and legally marketed drug that can be graduallyeliminated by decreasing doses, a procedure we call as ” pharmacotherapyof drug addict “.
However this is a short term treatment. A long termtreatment of addiction requires personal and behavioral training. This processis called rehabilitation of a drug addict. During this process, certainmeasures are taken which aim at restoring the health of the person damaged dueto drugs. It requires psychological and social therapy in the form ofcounselling by relatives, friends and physicians.
In this counselling the imams of mosques and heads ofschools, colleges and universities can also play a vital role by educatingmasses about the ill effects of drug abuse and motivate them for total drugabstinence in a sympathetic manner. They must persuade them to have a companyof drug free peer group. Counselling must generate behavioral response to solveproblems and increase patients’ self esteem. They must not criticise thepatient for his/her past actions and must be affectionate to him /her.
Standing up against this social evil is the only option wehave.
Zubair Zahoor is a student at Department of Chemistry,University of Kashmir