Magnitude of drug menace in younger generation in India UPSC

Rave parties

A rave party is a large dance party at a nightclub, dance club or festival featuring performances by DJs, who select and mix a seamless flow of loud electronic dance music songs and tracks.

Rave means music, dance, parties, happiness, and recreation in licensed nightclubs. It is not about drug use, sex, rape, molestation, alcohol, cultural abuse, or miscreation.

Popular RAVE DRUGS and their SLANG TERMS include:

• MDMA— also known as Ecstasy, E, Molly and Energy
• LSD — also known as Acid, Rainbow, Red Lips, Smiley, Sugar, and Zen
• Cocaine — also known as Yay, Blow, White Powder, Rock, Sniff and Snow
• Marijuana— also known as grass, weed, reefer, Mary Jane, Kush or hemp

Under the influence of these drugs or even alcohol, many sexual escapades happen, that would not take place if the persons involved were in their senses. Several instances of rape and sexual molestation go unawares due to the victim’s inability to remember details and the subsequent lack of proof.

DRUG ABUSE IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM

• Over the last three decades, the use of illegal drugs has spread at an unprecedented rate and reached every part of the globe, creating devastating problems in practically most of the nations, arising out of drug abuse.
• There is a worldwide consensus that misuse of narcotics and psychoactive substances is on the rise and India is no exception to this. Drug abuse in India is prevalent. Polydrug use is now a well-established pattern of drug misuse.

DRUG ABUSE IN THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF INDIA

• Making up one-fifth of the population, 15-24 year-olds carry with them India’s future.
• The youth of our nation will eventually determine the country’s moral, political, and social persuasions.
• Bearing the burden of a densely populated country like India is no small task. And drug abuse does nothing to lighten the load.
• Illicit drugs have the potential to thwart the success of India’s future.
• India has one of the world’s youngest populations, a factor that is expected to power future economic growth, yet Punjab is already a reminder of the demographic risks of a glut of young people. An overwhelming majority of addicts are between the ages of 15 and 35, according to one study, with many of them unemployed and frustrated by unmet expectations. Roughly 60 percent of all illicit drugs confiscated in India are seized in Punjab.
• Drugs most often associated with abuse include: alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, methaqualone, and opioids
• As per the report Magnitude of Substance Use in India released by All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) in 2019:
  • Around 5 crore Indians reported to have used cannabis and opioids at the time of the survey (conducted in the year 2018).
  • It has been estimated that there are about 8.5 lakh people who inject drugs.
  • Of the total cases estimated by the report, more than half of them are contributed by states like Punjab, Assam, Delhi, Haryana, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh.
  • About 60 lakh people are estimated to need help for their opioid use problems.

CAUSES OF DRUG ABUSE IN YOUNG

• The exact cause of substance abuse is not clear, with the two predominant theories being: either a genetic disposition that is learned from others or a habit which if addiction develops, manifests itself as a chronic debilitating disease
• Public schooling can ironically turn into breeding grounds for addicts. In and out of the classroom, teens and young adults are influenced by the social acceptance of drugs. This lack of personal responsibility and the general apathy surrounding the issue has filtered down to the youth – creating normality in drug abuse.
• In India, the majority (of addicts) became hooked on drugs after friends introduced drugs to them.
• According to a study by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Substance Abuse by Children, 100 percent of the children in conflict with the law were drug abusers, while 95.5 percent of them staying in child care institutions were on drugs, and 93 percent of street children consumed narcotics. The study also states that 88 percent of the children consumed drugs due to “peer pressure”.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE

• Prescription drug abuse is growing in India and the problem is serious in South Asia. According to UNODC, India accounts for 10 percent of the total pharmaceuticals produced in the world. In its report, it noted that the law required all drugs with “abuse potential” to be sold only on prescription, but that there was “significant diversion” from this.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

• There is a need for government enforcement agencies, non-governmental philanthropic agencies, and others to collaborate and supplement each other efforts for a solution to the problem of drug addiction through education and legal action.
• The spread and entrenchment of drug abuse need to be prevented as the cost to the people, environment, and the economy will be colossal.
• The Indian government has taken a significant step to help alcohol and drug abusers by launching a national toll-free helpline number – 1800-11-0031 and control drug abuse in India. The helpline was started to set in motion Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to eradicate the menace of drug abuse in India and assist the existing victims in successful rehabilitation.

India has adopted the three-pronged strategies – supply (NDPS to prevent and combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking), demand (National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction), and harm reduction (low threshold, community-based opioid substitution therapy (OST)) to address the drug problem.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985

• It is an Act of the Parliament of India that prohibits a person the production/manufacturing/cultivation, possession, sale, purchasing, transport, storage, and/or consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.
• The Act extends to the whole of India and it applies also to all Indian citizens outside India and to all persons on ships and aircraft registered in India.
• Amendments (1988, 2001 and 2014)
• The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act, 2014 amended the NDPS Act to relax restrictions placed by the Act on Essential Narcotic Drugs (Morphine, Fentanyl and Methadone), making them more accessible for use in pain relief and palliative care.

It contains five chapters

• Chapter I – Preliminary
• Chapter II – Authorities and officers
• Chapter III – Prohibition , control and regulation
• Chapter IV – Offences and penalties
• Chapter V – Procedures

The reasons for not including alcohol in the NDPS Act are

1. Prevailing social acceptance even for frequent self-induced intoxication
2. High revenues earned by the Government on the sale of alcoholic beverages
3. Prevalence of illicit and locally brewed undistilled forms of alcohol is very high in society
4. Differences in the clinical course of alcohol dependence contrary to other drugs like opium which have been included in NDPS.

The Mental Health Care Act (2017) has included alcohol and drug use disorders under its ambit. This measure is likely to increase the adherence to the human rights, to ensure non-discrimination, the respect to the right to autonomy and confidentiality, to increase the availability and access to the minimum standard of care and rehabilitation for people with substance use disorders