International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking- June 26, 2016

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is a United Nations International Day against drug abuse and the illegal drug trade. It is observed annually on 26 June, since 1988, a date chosen to commemorate Lin Zexu’s dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guangdong, just before the First Opium War in China. It is also a day to reaffirms our commitment to the global war on substance abuse. The observance was instituted by General Assembly Resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987.
The 2016 campaign, ‘Listen First’, seeks to raise awareness of the fact that drug use prevention, based on science is an effective investment in the wellbeing of our children and youth, families and communities. At the core of their science-based prevention is a very simple concept, namely: listening.Substance abuse and the illicit trafficking of drugs is an evil in our society and disorientation among a majority of the youth. Drug trafficking is an industry working generally on a vicious cycle of manufactured demand and then supply. In view of the growing menace and the deterioration of the quality of life, the General Assembly at the United Nations, in December 1987 designated 26th June to be celebrated with effect as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. This resolution also recommended further action to be undertaken with regard to the report and conclusions of the 1987 International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The day as an event is celebrated worldwide with much conscious fervor to make people aware and emphasize the hazards of drug addiction and illegal trafficking. A problem which is a major deterrent to humanity and a poison to the well-being of the youth in particular poses greater problems to the socio-economic and political stability of a nation as also disturbing the sustainable development of a nation.

Some information on Drug abuse and its effects:
What is a drug?
• Drugs are chemical substances which alter mental functions and also result in physical effects on the body. They can occur naturally (like cannabis etc) or result from chemical synthesis (like amphetamines, lysergic acid etc.
What is drug abuse?
• Intake of ‘drugs’ for reasons other than medical in amounts, strengths, frequency or manner that cause damage to mental functions and often result in dependence.

What are the signs of drug users?
Physical
• Loss of attention to personal hygiene, food, cloths etc.
• Sleeplessness, red watery eyes and puffy face
• Extremely hyperactive
• Tremors or shakes of hands, feet or head
• Unexplained weight loss
Behavioural
• Loss of interest in day to day activities
• Lack of self control and inadequate coping skills
• Forgetfulness
• Mood swings, nervousness, irritability
• Change in friends and new hangouts
• Withdrawn behaviour
Causative factors for starting drug abuse
• Peer pressure, lack of family/social support
• Parental or sibling drug abuse or severe parental dysfunction
• Curiosity, pleasure seeking or lack of satisfaction in life periods such as adolescence, times of isolation or grief
• Easy availability of drugs and easy access to money
• Psychological, emotional escape from difficult situations.

What is the role of family?
As a support system family needs to have certain principles like:
• An empathetic attitude towards family members
• Communication with care
• Sense of acknowledgement with appreciation
• Time to spent with the family members to strengthen mutual relations
• An appropriate time for sharing of feeling
• Willingness to forgive and forget to develop mutual trust
• Sensitivity to avoid harping on the past
• Focus on the positive and nurture good feelings
• Elders as role models for the young members
• Enabling environment to learn life skills to deal with various situations
• Sensibility to judge the family success by the degree of enjoying mutual peace, health, love and care.

Services provided by NSACS through opioid substitution therapy
Opiod Substitution Therapy involves replacing the client’s primary drug of use (Opioid) with a medically safe drug or the same opioid in a safer mode of administration under medical supervision. In OST, an opioid, which is unsafe, requiring repeated administration through unsafe/hazardous route, is substituted with a medication which is long acting, and safer, and administered through the sublingual route.
In Nagaland, there are 31 OST services set up under Govt. facilities and NGOs set up under Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (NSACS).

(Source: Wikipedia, www.unodc.org, www.badisa.org.za,
www.calendarlabs.com, www.spym.org and NSACS)