War on drugs: Substance use disorders high in Northeast

Eastern Mirror Desk

Dimapur, June 25 (EMN): A study by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, had revealed that the Northeast has a high prevalence of drug use.

On the occasion of “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking”, which is observed on June 26 to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of a society free of drug abuse, Eastern Mirror revisits the NDDTC’s report: ‘The Magnitude of Substance use in India’ (2019).

According to the national survey, which was carried out among 10-75 year olds with an aim to assess the extent and pattern of substance use in all the states and UTs, a few states namely Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat accounted for more than half of the estimated 60 lakh people with opioid (opium, heroin and pharmaceutical opioids) use disorders (harmful or dependent pattern) in the country.

‘In terms of percentage of population affected, the top states in the country are those in the Northeast — Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Manipur — along with Punjab, Haryana and Delhi,’ read the report.

It said that about 2.1% of the country’s population (2.26 crore) used opioids with heroin accounting for 1.14%, followed by pharmaceutical opioids (0.96%) and opium (0.52%). About 0.55% of Indians were estimated to need help for their opioid use problems.

Alcohol: The report said that alcohol is the most common psychoactive substance used by Indians with the country’s users percentage standing at about 14.6% or approximately 16 crore people at the time of the survey. The prevalence among men was 17 times higher than women, i.e, alcohol users among men was 27% compared to 1.16% among women.

However, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS – 5), 2019–21, data showed that only one percent of women and 19 percent of men aged 15 and above drank alcohol, while Nagaland’s figure stood at 23.9%.

About 5.2% of Indians (more than 5.7 crore people) are estimated to be affected by harmful or dependent alcohol use, which means every third alcohol user in India needs help for alcohol-related problems, according to the NDDTC report.

Nearly one in five alcohol users suffer from alcohol dependence and need urgent treatment, it added.

Cannabis: About 2.8% of Indians (3.1 crore people) reported having used any cannabis product within 12 months of the survey, and about 0.66% (approximately 72 lakh people) needed help for its abuse.

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh and Delhi recorded higher than the national prevalence, while states like Sikkim and Punjab reported considerably high prevalence of cannabis use disorders.

Sedatives and Inhalants: About 1.08% or about 1.18 crore people were found using the substance at the time of the survey with Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram recording the highest prevalence among the states, while Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat topped in terms of largest users.

“Inhalants are the only category of substances for which the prevalence of current use among children and adolescents is higher (1.17%) than adults (0.58%),” the report said, adding that an estimated 4.6 lakh children and 18 lakh adults need help for their inhalant use.

Meanwhile, the report said that cocaine, amphetamine type stimulants and hallucinogens registered lowest prevalence.

Access to treatment services

According to the study, access to treatment services for people affected by substance use disorders was grossly inadequate with only about one in 38 people with alcohol dependence reported getting any treatment, and only about one in 180 people with such problems got hospitalised for treatment.

Among people suffering from dependence on illicit drugs, one in four persons had ever received any treatment, and one in 20 persons received in-patient treatment.

Way forward

The study stated that scientific evidence-based treatment needs to be made available for people with substance use disorders at an adequate scale.

It said the country has a sizable population that needs urgent help for substance use disorders but the reach of the national programmes for treatment is grossly inadequate. It stressed on the need for massive investments in enhancing the avenues for treatment.

The study said that scaling-up of treatment services as outpatient clinics is urgently required and that a coordinated multi-stakeholder response is necessary for it. “Evidence-based substance use prevention programmes are needed to protect the young people,” it said, while stressing on the importance of involvement of families, schools and communities in general.

The survey also indicated the need for relooking at the legal and policy measures aimed at drug supply control.