A MICROCOSMIC STUDY OF DRUG ABUSE: THE PUNE EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Drug addiction  is “a state of periodic or chronic intoxication,  detrimental to the individual and the society, produced by repeated consumption of a drug either natural or synthetic” (Dupont, 1984).  The United Nations World Drug Report of 2015 states, “It is estimated that almost a quarter of a billion people between the ages of 15 and 64 years used an illicit drug in 2013. Globally, some 246 million people use illicit drugs and almost

200,000 of them die using drugs”.  According to the Press Trust of India it is estimated that there are about ten million alcoholics, nine million cannabis or marijuana users, 250,000 opiate users and nearly one million illicit drug users in India.  Like a shadowy octopus, the problem of drug abuse has reached even the school rooms in Pune, India, and it is high time that preventive measures and awareness programs be launched in our schools so that our students will recognize the enemy before  it strikes.

In this research, it was decided to seek permission from the authorities of a Government Recognized High School (GRHS) and a Government Drug Rehabilitation Centre (GDRC) in Pune, India.  Permission to carry out the research was granted and the data was collected from these two centers. To determine the extent of the problem, simple surveys were administered and data collected from the High School children after working out a stratified random sampling of the population under study.  Preliminary data was obtained and this was followed by in-depth interviews from recovering addicts who were admitted to a Government Drug Rehabilitation Centre