Against Drug Abuse

 Editorial:-
Thursday, 26 June, a day after Sikkim has devoted 10 Minutes to Earth, is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and hopefully, the State will spare some time thinking about this deadly combo as well. Sikkim is under assault from both fronts and going by the way it is handling the situation, it has very slim chances of succeeding. Agreed, there are many working diligently to curtail substance abuse and improve rehabilitation facilities, but good intentions are not always enough. To begin with, there are no figures available on the extent to which addiction has seeped into the Sikkimese society. In the absence of any data, it would impossible to gauge the success or failure of the anti drug abuse initiatives in the State or the efficacy of the Sikkim Anti Drugs Act. The focus will be diffused if the field workers don’t even know whether addiction is on the rise or fall in Sikkim. This is not to suggest that all efforts will prove futile. It is an accepted fact that addiction is a problem in Sikkim, and true to its international trend, is cutting across caste, social and economic barriers and infecting every section of the society. The obvious need is to launch a concerted drive against addiction, but just how wide and how focused this drive has to be can be decided only after the planners know what they are up against. But then, that is typical of Sikkim – to go up against a problem without even an inclination of the strength of the enemy.
An impossibility though it is, let’s continue on the premise that Sikkim has to continue battling drug abuse till it is completely wiped out. Addiction is essentially a young person’s disease [at least the affliction stage]. The youth are inclined to experiment and rebel. This is perfect hunting round for substances of abuse which, with their psychotropic trips, also provide release. Money is not a factor because even the poorest of families have their children caught in addiction. In Sikkim, the most conducive factor leading the youth into addiction is time, they simply have too much to spare. The State has consistently prioritized youth initiatives and has undertaken some remarkable schemes for them, but most of these are for the exception children, those who figure in merit lists. A majority of the kids are, well, “average” [for want of a better word]. There is precious little in the public domain for them, and even the public spaces where they could have played and interacted in a safe environment have been robbed from them to make car parks and new buildings. One has to realize that prevention alone is no defence against addiction. Every addict, even before his/ her initiation into drugs knows that it is not the most healthy habits. They still experiment, are snared and then seek escape only to find themselves trapped. A stronger focus has to be on rehabilitation, or treatment as some prefer to call it. This is why knowing what we are up against is so important. The relapse rate for rehabilitated addicts is high because they spend months in sanitized and regulated environments only to return to an environment which pushed them into addiction. Substance abuse is not a solitary indulgence, it is mostly a peer thing and rehabilitating only a section of the group leaves the recovering addict exposed to chances of relapse. Rehabilitation is also a social process and the whole society has to get involved. People have to understand addiction as a disease and a rehabilitated person as a recovering patient. The society also has to stop putting a moral quotient on addiction as this pushes addicts away even when they want to reach out for help.
The process is simple, celebrated recovered addicts and their love for life, reach out to those who are still trapped. And act fast, the youth today form the largest chunk of the Sikkimese population, their health should be everybody’s concern.