Drug abuse among Mumbai's youth: A price too 'high'

Among the many patients that frequent Masina Hospitalrsquos Rehabilitation Centre in Byculla is a 21yearold who has been battling drug addiction more specifically with marijuana since she was 18 She had joined an engineering college and dropped out Later she took up a job quit it and ran away from home The police located her in Bengaluru She was enrolled for rehabilitation and has been undergoing treatment for three weeksu00a0 The psychiatrists treating her are often stumped when she justifies her addiction to marijuana saying that itrsquos good for her Alarmingly she is one among the many young patients who are battling drug addiction While the addiction can prove fatal as in the case of Glee star Cory Montieth who succumbed to his addiction on July 13 from a heroin and alcohol overdose youngsters underestimate its threat Dr Yusuf Matcheswalla Founder and Head of the Psychiatry Department at Masina Hospital and Head of Psychiatric Unit at GP Hospital reminisces that in the 1980s when he began pursuing psychiatry there was an onslaught of addictive substances such as charas and brown sugar The average age of patients was 14 ldquoThere was a major lsquodrug phobiarsquo The habit develops among teens hence there was a need for preventive programmes to stop children from experimenting with drugsrdquo he recalls Rehab road It led him to approach the Masina Hospital who agreed to set up a rehabilitation centre within their premises in 2002 with 20 beds and qualified staff where patients are kept for three months during which they undergo physical psychological and neurological treatment as well as yoga and occupational therapy It requires a proper followup or else a relapse can occur Prior to this the Gokuldas Tejpal GT Hospital near Crawford Market started a deaddiction centre in 1997 where patients especially from the economically disadvantaged strata were admitted for a month for treatment While there are several rehab centres especially on the cityrsquos outskirts occasionally exaddicts man these centres that lack qualified staff At times they make patients work on the premises too Hooked up for life ldquoWhile a large chunk of homeless youngsters are addicted to sniffing glue petrol and other substances upwardly mobile youth prefer brown sugar cannabis and cocainerdquo says Dr Matcheswalla adding that a lot of harm is caused due to a misconception that since it is legal in some countries cannabis is less harmful Cannabis is more harmful because it can lead to psychosis and makes the person lose touch with reality Dr Yusuf Merchant President of the Drug Abuse Information Rehabilitation and Research Centre which runs a yearlong Behaviour Disorder Modification programme at Kalyan says that youth are a highrisk segment Heroin is slowly being phased out as cannabis and cocaine are more popular Dr Merchant has been treating drug addicts for over 30 years and says that it might start from 15 years or even younger ldquoCocaine and prescription medicines have fewer withdrawal symptoms that make users believe that they are not lsquohookedrsquo and that itrsquos recreational Itrsquos a big myth Youth should be made aware of the dangers as often they donrsquot realise that they have a choice to refuse itrdquo Societal churn Dr Sarala Bijapurkar Retired Associate Professor Sociology KJ Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce says that causes can include family pressure for academic performance or it might be an escape routes from the conflicts within families ldquoPeer groups are also responsible for youth experimenting with drugs Societal expectations are many and at times familial bonds are weak Such youth turn towards peers to escape aggressive parents Parents need to relate listen and understand their childrenrdquo Dr Merchant says that lately more women are doing drugs ldquoEarlier the ratio was 110 Now itrsquos almost 13 A lot of it is due to the social status associated with cocaine as opposed to heroine considered as a social stigma Itrsquos also peer pressure seniors at work may be taking drugs and juniors emulate them Celebrities inhale abuse drugs that also make it more acceptable Social status notwithstanding people neglect to realise that drug abuse causes brain damage in the long run and a mixture of cocaine and alcohol can be fatalrdquo A joint approach Dr Matcheswalla blames drug abuse among youth on peer groups and lifestyle ldquoSpending capacity has increased manifold Parenting modes have changed parents with double income have less time to monitor kids They give in to demands of money and realise too late about their kidsrsquo addiction Itrsquos also due to easy access and an acceptability that is given to drugs it has become a musthave at parties With cannabis itrsquos cheap and many people can share a jointrdquo Dr Merchant admits that awareness is higher and more patients approach rehab centres ldquoAlso symptoms are more familiar and hence picked up faster by alert parents Antinarcotic laws are also in place but effective implementation is what is lackingrdquo he says Helplines 247 Crisis Prevention Helpline Call 64537070 Drug Abuse Information Rehabilitation and Research Centre Call 9821884813 2269 1484 Kripa Foundation Call 26405405 Forum Against Drugs Call 22045441 Let the numbers speak Sr Type of No of cases Worth in no Drug registered Rupees 1 Heroin 3 255000 2 Charas 24 13594000 3 Cocaine 16 549000 4 Ganja 7 1600071 Information ACP DD Kale AntiNarcotics Cell Mumbai Police as of July 15 2013u00a0 Gone too soon 31yearold Glee star Cory Montieth was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room on July 13 from a heroin and alcohol overdose Montieth was undergoing treatment for his drug addiction in April He was treated for drug abuse since he was 19 and reportedly confessed that he consumed ldquoanything and everythingrdquo and felt ldquolucky to be aliverdquo pic afp Drug Abuse u00a0 Who is prone gt People suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD or Schizoid Personality Disorder SPD gt Introverts extremely sensitive people gt Dropouts gt People looking to experiment gt People who faced trauma in childhood Signs gt Uncontrolled mood swings gt Drop in attendance to school work gt Agitation lack of motivation gt Sudden hyperactivity gt Paranoia Side effects gt Brain damage which can affect longterm ability to think decide and control behaviour gt It creates a dependence on it the person may underestimate amounts of consumption which canu00a0be fatal gt HIV due to sharing syringes promiscuity gt Lower immunity gt Criminal behaviouru00a0