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North East: The Vicious Cycle Of

Drug Addiction
Posted on March 24, 2012 in Society

By Prerna Tyagi:
Till very recently my father was posted in Mizoram and on each of his visit to
home, he would tell us about the people there, their culture and traditions.
The thing that he talked most about was the grave situation of drug
addiction in the North East India. Every third person in the region is or has
been a drug addict at some point in his or her life. The most shocking thing
that he told was that it is not easy to spot an old person there; not because they
have a secret anti-aging potion or something, but because the life expectancy
in the region is very low and most people die young; a major part of their lives
goes into nothing else but drug abuse. No doubt the influence of the
substance-use takes a person to a different world, completely disconnected
from the reality; especially when the reality is also not so rosy as the North
Eastern part of India is one of the least developed region with very few
infrastructural, educational and employment opportunities. The
unemployment rate of 59.3% is very high compared to the nation-wide rate of
19.7%.

The worst hit states are Manipur, Nagaland,


Meghalaya and some parts of Assam. The main cause is the easy availability of
drugs by illegal drug trafficking and the close proximity of these states to the
Golden Triangle, the second largest site of opium production.
According to a survey, the most used substances are sada, bidi, cigarette,
alcohol and opium. Alcoholism is another threat but it is far less prominent
than drug addiction. The situation has reached terrifying dimensions because
of strong links between drug addiction and HIV transmission. The other major
cause of HIV apart from unsafe sex is the high incidence of IDU (Intravenous
Drug Use), especially rampant in the North East. The addicts use the same
contaminated needle many times and share it among many groups. However,
the scope of HIV is not restricted to the drug users; it is highly prevalent
among the general population as the virus is transmitted through the drug
users to their sexual partners, from infected sexual partners to their children.
All the North Eastern states are facing an HIV epidemic driven by both
injecting drug-use and high risk sexual behavior. According to the Department
of AIDS control, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the adult HIV and
AIDS prevalence rates in Manipur and Nagaland are 1.57% and 1.2%
respectively which are well above the national average of 0.34%. In
comparison to other Indian states, the North East is less populated, but there
are some 100,000 people who live with HIV and AIDS in the region.
It would be unfair to say that nothing is being done to ease the situation. There
are some organizations like NACO, UNODC, Azad Foundation, among others,
who have been very active in taking initiatives in this regard like increasing the
availability of clean syringes and drugs like buprenorphine (a semi-synthetic
opioid that is used to treat opioid addiction). Several rehabilitation centers
have also been set up but all these measures would not be sufficient if the root
causes are not addressed and eradicated. Stern measures should be taken to
stop the easy availability of drugs and the people involved in drug-trafficking
should be severely punished.
The people who indulge in substance-abuse should be retold the value of life
and the hazards of drug addiction and HIV AIDS; they should be given
employment opportunities and better educational facilities. These people need
to be shown hope. It is the responsibility of not only the Government of India
or the NGOs but of all of us and we should not hesitate to participate in this
drive whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Learning how to deal with drug addiction becomes easier when there are sites
like HowtoHelpaDrugAddict.com that provide invaluable information about
the disease.

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