More youths getting trapped in drugs vicious circle

KANPUR: Shashank Awasthi (name changed), an advocate, was skeptical when he first tasted smack given to him in a cigarette by his client. This affair cost him dear. He lost his career as an advocate. After two years, he is still fighting to quit the \'habit\'. And he is not alone trapped in the world of drug addiction.



The world will observe the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Saturday. According to experts, urban people are more likely to get trapped in the world of illicit drugs. In Kanpur, tobacco, alcohol, opium, brown sugar and cannabis top the list of substances which drug addicts look for in the city.



\"When he (Shashank) came to us, he was like a body without soul. He could survive without food, but not without a daily shot of brown sugar. We had to counsel him for an year after he felt somewhat better,\" said D K Shukla who runs a rehabilitation centre at Barra.



Shukla further said, \"On an average, 4 to 5 cases of drug addicts enrol with us on a daily basis. It is appalling to see urban youths, well-educated and from high income groups, falling into the trap of drugs.\" He added, \"We have had instances of even advocates, police personnel, individuals from good family backgrounds and teenagers coming to us for treatment. We never criticise them as anyone can fall prey to drug addiction. Instead, we make them realise how beautiful this world is without drugs.\"



Dr Unnati Kumar, a psychiatrist running a de-addiction centre, said that his centre registers more than 2 to 3 patients of drug addiction only. Shedding light on drug-addiction, Kumar said, \"Besides the known drugs, addiction to alcohol and smoking is also a part of drug-addiction. More so, individuals who consume sleeping pills and pain-killers beyond the prescribed quantities, and those who love inhaling whiteners are also considered as addicts.\"



On being asked about the \'de-addiction\' success rate, Kumar said that doctors call a case as successful when the addict completely quits a drug for at least two years. \"In case of alcohol addiction, the success rate can be between 50 to 70 per cent, but for other drugs, around 17 to 20 per cent of patients who come to us quit drugs. In this, the will power plays an instrumental role besides our counselling in quitting the addiction,\" he said. Support from parents and friends is extremely important for an addict to quit the habit.



List of fatal fantasies



Heroin (also known as brown sugar, Thai White, white smack, gard)



Hash (also known as hashish, charas)



Marijuana (also known as grass, ganja)



Cocaine (also known as coke, snow)



Cocaine plus heroin ( speedbailing)



Opium (also known as ope, chandu, medak and afeem)



LSD/mescaline (magic mushrooms Amphetamines Dexedrin (also known as speed or Amphetamines)



Methaqualone (also known as mandra or mandies)



Alcohol and smoke addiction also form a part of drug-addiction.



Use of medications like sleeping pills and pain killers beyond prescriptions is also a form of drug-addiction.



Those inhaling whiteners and nail polish removers (thinners), consuming cough syrups and pain relievers in large quantities are considered as addicts.


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