India’s major population is youth between the age of 15-30 age and we find most of them consuming one or the other banned substances which effects the health and overall well-being of the person and the family as well.
The overall high rates of drug use found among Indian youth may be accounted for in part by lack of educational and employment opportunity and other endemic problems of Indian reservations. Individual drug involvement is most highly related to membership in drug-using peer clusters; but because of physical isolation, links between drug use and close friends are weaker for Indian youth, and family influence is felt more strongly. Anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem are not related to drug involvement, but angry youth are more likely to have drug-involved peers. Risk factors for Indian youth are low family caring, age first drunk, poor school adjustment, weak family sanctions against drugs, positive attitudes toward alcohol use, risk of school dropout, father not at home, and poor religious identification. Millions of Indians are dependent on alcohol, cannabis, and opiates, and drug misuse is a pervasive phenomenon in Indian society, says a new report, published jointly by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and India’s Ministry of Social Justice.
The epidemic of substance abuse in young generation has assumed alarming dimensions in India. Changing cultural values, increasing economic stress and dwindling supportive bonds are leading to initiation into substance use. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) substance abuse is persistent or sporadic drug use inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practice
Today, there is no part of the world that is free from the curse of drug trafficking and drug addiction. Millions of drug addicts, all over the world, are leading miserable lives, between life and death. India too is caught in this vicious circle of drug abuse, and the numbers of drug addicts are increasing day by day. According to a UN report, One million heroin addicts are registered in India, and unofficially there are as many as five million.
What started off as casual use among a minuscule population of high-income group youth in the metro has permeated to all sections of society. Inhalation of heroin alone has given way to intravenous drug use, that too in combination with other sedatives and painkillers. This has increased the intensity of the effect, hastened the process of addiction and complicated the process of recovery. Majority of the People are not aware of the deaddiction centres or councillors for the treatment purpose. Young age children are driven mostly into drugs and are not able to come out of that mess which is very distressing to watch.
Today’s youth need a guidance and a structured path so that they are not diverted into the dark zone of drugs. As civil societies, youth led organizations also do have a role to play by advocating on the drug free society and also create awareness on drug usage and its harmfully effects on the body physically and mentally.
So keeping the present scenario in mind National Youth Council Of India is hosting a One day Summit - “Narcotic Free Summit” which has a mission and vision:
✓ To improve the Intelligence, Enforcement, Coordination
✓ To Prevent and combat abuse and illicit traffic of drugs
✓ To Create a drug free society
National Youth Council of India is looking out for a holistic approach in eradicating drugs from society. This summit will ensure we are one step closer in the eradication process and we aim to announce a drug-free society for our future generation. National Youth council of India is hosting this summit for a positive cause and we urge everyone to support and join hands in this intrinsic and most important initiative for a better future of India.
