SHILLONG: In an alarming revelation , the tobacco abuse by children is highest in Meghalaya much to the concern of the State Government.
Informing this here on Saturday during the 1st National Conference organised on the theme “Substance, Suicide and Adolescents: Effects of Substance abuse and Suicide in Adolescents” , Dr. W. Kharshiing, Managing Director, Woodland Institute of Nursing, said that the total abuse by children in Meghalaya stands at 96.4 percent followed by Nagaland at 95.8 percent and Sikkim at 93.1 percent
Quoting a 2012 survey conducted by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry statistic of boys aged between 15-19 percent, Dr. W. Kharshiing asserted that the use of heroin is also seen to be highest in Meghalaya at 27.3 per cent and followed by Punjab 19.3 percent
Leaving apart tobacco and heroin, even injectable drugs seems to be popular amongst the children with 88.6 percent children from Mizoram and , followed by Punjab and Rajasthan at 25 percent.
Stating that that abuse goes beyond alcohol and tobacco and it often involves cocaine, heroin and opium, he added adolescent substance abuse is a major public concern
Earlier, he said that as per the World Health Organization (WHO), substance abuse is persistent or sporadic excessive drug use inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practice..
“With a turnover of around $500 billions, it is the third largest business in the world, next to petroleum and arms trade,” he said while adding that about 190 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other.
Admitting that the numbers of drug addicts are increasing day by day, he also added that the intravenous injections of analgesics like dextropropoxphene etc. are also reported from many states, as it is easily available at 1/10 th the cost of heroin.
“Adolescent drug abuse is one of the major areas of concern in adolescent and young people’s behaviour. It is estimated that, in India, by the time most boys reach the ninth grade, about 50 percent of them have tried at least one of the substance of abuse nature,” he added. .
Giving more detailed, he said that in 2015, the number of student suicides stood at 8,934 and in the five years leading to 2015, 39,775 students killed themselves.
