International Day against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking

Breaking the Cycle

- PARVEEN KUMAR

All pervasive, Drug abuse today has become a curse with no hardly any part of the world free from this menace. This abuse is seriously affecting the physical and socio-economic well-being of the individuals ultimately having a negative impact on economy of the country and hindering the progress of the country. Youths becoming addict during the prime of their age ultimately become a burden on their families, society and country. The epidemic of drug abuse in younger generation has assumed alarming dimensions in India. The stress and strain of the modern-day life has rendered the individual particularly youths more vulnerable to the problem of substance abuse.

They perceive it as a medium through which they feel relaxed totally unworried of the stress which they are going through. The years when their energy could have been used in a positive way are lost in drug abuse. Most of the researches reveal that suggest that early (12-14 years old) to late (15-17 years old) adolescence is a critical-risk period for the initiation of substance use and that substance use may peak among young people aged 18-25 years. A government survey found children as young as 9 are using drugs in Delhi. Every day India witnesses 10 suicides related to drug abuse.