Drug abuse claiming ever younger victims: Experts

MUMBAI: On Tuesday, a 17-year-old boy committed suicide at Malwani allegedly after failing to get his fix of mephedrone. The incident corroborates what shrinks and academicians have been saying of late—drug users are increasingly getting younger. Counsellors report receiving addicts as young as 11 years.
“The issue has been around for at least two years.The problem is only growing with the easy availability of drugs. School students and young adults are easy baits for drug peddlers. Today, one is able to buy drugs for as cheap as Rs 15,” said clinical psychologist Seema Hingorrany.
Lack of monitoring adds to the easy availability of drugs to make more children get hooked, feel experts. “College students who are addicted to various drugs are luring younger ones by offering drugs for free initially. Once a child is hooked, they start charging. This way, the older ones gets to fund their addiction,” said psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty. “The marketing and selling of drugs on school and college campuses is aggressive.”
Drug abuse through social media is also prevalent. “Many of the students who are falling prey to drugs are from disturbed backgrounds and are looking for solace. This is when they encounter strangers on social media who introduce them to drugs. This is dangerous at many levels,” said Hingorrany.
Lack of awareness among parents results in drug use going unnoticed. “Parents do not know much about drugs such as mephedrone and methamphetamine, and unlike in the case of alcohol, which can be easily identified, use of these drugs often skips the eye,” said Dr Shetty. He has written to the chief minister, demanding the creation of crack teams to ensure supply reduction.
Schools too have noticed a rise in users. “The problem is more prevalent in schools that are in vulnerable areas where drugs can be supplied in a concealed manner. It is important that schools make sure their environments are clean of such elements,” said Fr Francis Swamy, joint secretary, Archdiocesan Board of Education (ABE), which governs over 150 schools in the city.
He suggests that schools must be proactive. “We ensure that security guards are trained to identify this problem. We do not allow strangers to loiter around schools and also ensure that CCTV cameras monitor the situation,” he said.