SHILLONG, May 23: Drug abuse in the state assumes alarming proportions among children aged 12-13 years, experts fighting the menace observed.
They suggested the government stop criminalising addicts and ensure reduction in the supply of drugs.
“We see an upward trend. The young and the adolescents are increasingly getting addicted to drugs unlike before. Children are getting into drugs at an early age, starting from 12-13 years. It is an alarming trend,” Meghalaya Users Forum (MUF) president, Neil Jaitley Khongwir told The Shillong Times.
He said according to data available with the forum, the state has over 20,000 drug addicts.
“This is a high figure and these are the only ones registered…The data has been collected by various services, including the Social Welfare department,” he added.
Khongwir said some districts were immune to the menace but it has now reached almost every corner of the state. The users have complete access to heroin – the drug of choice, he said. “Most of the districts do not have any particular organisation or treatment facilities, so these boys and girls are exposed to health risks. Not only they inflict on themselves but they could possibly also inflict on others,” Khongwir said.
On the role of the government to arrest the issue, he said, “Their role has been the same as before. I have not seen much change at all. It is there in the books of Meghalaya AIDS Control Society that they are going to make targeted interventions in certain districts. They have just started it in West Khasi Hills but it remains to be seen how it goes and how the community can access the facilities – if it will benefit them or not.”
“I have always stressed on (the setting up of) rehabilitation centres since I do not see anything of that kind taking place here. Maybe, we can follow some model states like Assam when it is about treatment facilities,” Khongwir said.
He said people must have access to the facilities across the state, including the far-flung areas.
MUF general secretary, Barry Kharmalki said recovery is possible through honesty and willingness.
Stating that the recovery rate in the state is minimal, he, however, said, “I will not say it is disappointing because there are boys coming in and our group is growing but we need to pass on the message to recovering addicts’ support groups which will help them.”
“We can talk about detox, rehabilitation but what after that? What is the plan? After you come out of rehab, you need some kind of support group to avoid relapse. In the long run, support group counseling and psycho-social support are all what helped me stay clean,” Kharmalki, who just completed 15 years of sobriety, said.
According to him, the government’s initiatives to fight the menace are only on papers. “The government needs to be more proactive. The first step towards tackling drug menace is to stop criminalising the users,” Kharmalki said. “The sooner we stop criminalising them, they will come out and realise what they are suffering from is not a menace but addiction and addiction in itself is an illness which needs medical attention,” he added.
