Substance abuse a growing problem

Visit any night club party or dance music event and it is quite amazing how much energy today’s young partying people possess; they dance almost non-stop and freak out at such events. A closer scrutiny will reveal the real cause. Many of them are high on drugs – narcotics and/or synthetic drugs, a necessary ingredient of a ‘rave’ or other such party scene.

Raves – started since late 1960s, which have always been associated with electronic dance music, electrifying style and esoteric high-inducing substances, are criticised as hippie culture, even in relatively permissive Western societies like the USA and UK, and law enforcement agencies have broken up such events. The availability of drugs-narcotics like cocaine, heroin, brown sugar, et al, had caused raves to be targeted and criticised by law enforcement officials and parents’ groups worldwide. But now, the rave psychedelia seems to have caught up in the developing countries, particularly in South-East Asia. Whether it is Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines or India, they are all engulfed by the rave culture.

It’s presence in India is particularly being increasingly felt in the urban and semi-urban areas and tourist hot-spots like Goa, where such drug-fuelled late night parties have become the order of everyday life. In Goa, the rave parties are held not only along the State’s tourist frequented coastal belt, but even in remote jungle areas of the hinterland. Incidentally, India’s internationally popular tourist destination is facing a severe drug menace since 2007 on account of police-politicians-drug mafia nexus, which has been ruining the youth. In fact, Goa has already begun witnessing deaths of young people due to drug over-dose, at club and rave party events.

The numerous dance music events which are regularly held at various coastal areas and other exotic locations in Goa, from Keri in Pernem to Palolem in Canacona, during the tourist season and particularly during the Christmas-New Year festivities and the Carnival celebration, are nothing but rave parties, which have been popularising an assortment of narcotic as well as synthetic drugs that many young people mistakenly believe are harmless. It’s not just at clubs and raves, substance abuse is now literally on a new high, in fact a new everything; scary new numbers, new drug cocktails, new source like illegal Internet pharmacies, and new users like those patronising late night parties at Goa’s ubiquitous beach-shacks – many of which double up as drug dens.

In the last few years, drug use has undergone a drastic shift. Usage of cocaine and heroin has declined globally, while opium and hashish, the traditional drugs in India, have given to synthetic drugs – especially Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS) and prescription drugs. If half the world’s ATS users live in Asia, India’s contribution is a whopping 29 per cent, according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) figures. Easy availability is said to be the primary cause. The World Drug Report (WDR) says India has of late become a hub of drugs sold through illegal Internet pharmacies.

For a generation that craves quick and easy solutions, these drugs appeal to the needs of today’s young people, and have become part of their modern lifestyles – recreationally and occupationally. Their use is believed to enhance performance, including sexual. They are often taken in a discreet pill form, which avoids the dangers of injection or the social stigma of smoking. These drugs are also easily available as they can be brought and sold over the counter, sourced via the Internet, sent through the local courier or even through the regular postal services. For the first time in India’s history, drugs have come out in the open; they are available everywhere visible and not hidden, but they are also dangerous. 

As new drugs find their way into urban and semi-urban setups, young people seek a dash of chemical comfort – easy to procure, cheap to buy – that allows them to navigate under the radar of social and legal scrutiny. Synthetic drugs (psycho-active substances produced in a lab) are the favourite of today’s youngsters, and they cover a wide range, from mind-altering amphetamines, ecstasy, LSD and other assorted designer drugs to the easily available and pocket friendly prescription medicines sold over the counter (OTC). Indeed, today pharma drug abuse is on a high – drug cocktailing, mix and match of synthetic chemicals is the new flavour of everyday life for many a young people.

Changing demographics is the worst worry. Today’s abuser is younger, affluent and open to try a range of drugs. They are professionals, students, women who seek chemical comfort to ease life’s stresses and strains – do a job better, appear more cheerful, stay awake longer, feel relaxed. The conventional understanding of who does which drug, where, how and why is being turned on its head as substance abuse becomes a part of everyday recreational and occupational activity. It’s now a new landscape and different culture of drug abuse that’s staring India in the face, says the UNODC.

Indeed, for many young people, it may be too little, too late. According to recent date, among those involved in drug and substance abuse in India, 13.1 per cent are below 20 years. Party and performance-enhancing drugs may be ‘cool’ but are highly addictive. With 70 per cent of the population below 35, the loss in terms of human potential may be incalculable. Substance abuse is growing problem, but like most things in India, all it needs is strict enforcement of regulation to keep it in check. The alternative could be a generation lost in drug heaven.

(The writer is a freelance journalist).