Substance abuse among India's youth hits emergency levels

India officially has 15.8 million children between the ages of 10 and 17 who are addicted to drugs. Experts warn that the true number is far higher. The National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre has called for an urgent reaction to a crisis situation.

In the first comprehensive national survey of the extent and pattern of substance abuse in India, the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre found a sizeable population of young people affected by substance use disorders and in need of urgent help.

Perhaps the most serious concern is the involvement of youngsters in the range of 14-15 years of age.

The report says the capacity of the national programme for treatment of substance use disorders is grossly inadequate.

The report establishes that alcohol is the most commonly used psychoactive substance, followed by cannabis and opioids. States with the highest prevalence of cannabis use are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh.

The national survey was conducted in all the 36 states and union territories of the country, in collaboration with ten other medical institutes and a network of 15 NGOs.

Raft of problems

It is the first time in the history of the country that an effort has been made to study and document substance abuse. More than 1,500 personnel were involved in data collection exercise.

“Over 30 million individuals use cannabis products and about 2.5 million suffer from cannabis dependence, while 22.6 million people use opioids and approximately 7.7 million individuals require help for opioid use problems,” the report says.

According to HS Phoolka, lawyer for Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an India-based children's rights movement which filed a public interest lawsuit in the Supreme Court, the issue is far more serious than the findings suggest.

“There are huge numbers of children who are affected and not counted in this survey because they are addicts. Drug availability in schools and their vicinity is a problem,” Phoolka told RFI.

The scourge of drug usage in the northern state of Punjab has reached epidemic proportions.

Over 13 percent of the people involved in drug and substance abuse in India are under 20 years old, suggesting the need for further stepping up community intervention and preventive mechanisms targeting adolescents

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has said many children face an increased risk of drug and alcohol abuse due to their poor mental and physical health, itself the result of violence, exploitation and sexual abuse.

The Indian findings indicate that, despite the existence of strict drug control laws and a multitude of agencies working towards drug supply control, a wide variety of illicit drugs are in circulation.

“Nine out of 10 people with drug addiction begin using substances before they are 18 years old. In its 2021-25 strategy, UNODC has defined harnessing the transformative power of youth and children as one of its three cross-cutting commitments," said UNODC programme officer Billy Batware.