1.

Title Of The Research :

Is Drug a problem in India ?

2. Introduction :
Prescription drug abuse is growing in India and the problem is serious in South
Asia. According to a UN report, drugs enter the cross-border illicit markets
through various channels, being diverted from India’s pharmacy industry and
smuggled from Afghanistan. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB),
an independent UN body tasked with monitoring the production and
consumption of narcotics worldwide, said in its annual report that
governments in South Asia continue to respond strongly to the threat of drug
trafficking and abuse in the region. According to UNODC, India accounts for 10
percent of the total pharmaceuticals produced in the world. In its report, it
noted that the law required all drugs with “abuse potential” to be sold only on
prescription, but that there was “significant diversion” from this. According to
a study by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Substance
Abuse by Children, 100 percent of the children in conflict with the law were
drug abusers, while 95.5 percent of them staying in child care institutions were
on drugs and 93 percent of street children consumed narcotics. The study also
states that 88 percent of the children consumed drugs due to “peer pressure”.
Visual journalists Vikram Singh and Enrico Fabian documented the alarming
spike in the number of people using prescription drug cocktails which are up to
10 times cheaper, and often easily available at neighbourhood chemists.

3. Statement Of Problem :
In the national household survey more than 40 000 men and boys (aged 12 to
60 years) were interviewed, while subsidiary studies looked at drug misuse
among women and prison inmates and in rural populations and border areas.
Alcohol, cannabis, opium, and heroin are the major drugs misused in India,
says the report. Buprenorphine, propoxyphene, and heroin are the most
commonly injected drugs. Applying estimates of prevalence to population
figures, the survey estimated that in India, whose population is just over a
billion, 62.5 million people use alcohol, 8.75 million use cannabis, two million
use opiates, and 0.6 million use sedatives or hypnotics. Seventeen per cent to
26% of these people can be classified as dependent users who need urgent
treatment, says the report. About 25% of users of opiates and cannabis are
likely to seek treatment, while about one in six people who drink alcohol are
likely to do so. “That drug abuse is an exclusively urban phenomenon is a
myth,” said Gary Lewis, the South Asia regional representative of the UN Office
on Drugs and Crime. Injecting drugs and high risk behaviours are seen in urban
and rural areas, he added.

4. Review Of Previous Study And Literature :

A study was conducted in 2003 on 500 students, from 142 high schools and
vocational schools in Zahedan City, using a multi-stage cluster sampling
method. In total, from the total of 259 females and 216 males who completed
the questionnaire, the following results were obtained. 0.4% of the females
and 2.3% of the males would usually smoke cigarette. The first experience of
smoking was most often seen at the age of 14 (26.2%). The prevalence of
other drugs was not studied in this research.[9] A study was conducted in 2009
on 610 students of Kerman's Male Pre-university Centers, in which the
prevalence of each drug was reported, but the total consumption prevalence
was not mentioned.[10] A study in Gilan Province in 2004–2009 on 1927 high
school students, including 46% females and 54% males, showed that the
percentage of at-least-once use, including and excluding cigarette, was 23.7
and 12.8, respectively.[11] A study in Karaj city in 2009–2010 on 447 high
school students, including 239 females and 208 males, showed that 57% had
at-least-once experience of drug use, including cigarette, of this number 56.1%
were male and 43.9% were female.[12] A study in Nazarabad city in 2007 on
400 3rd year high school students, including 204 females and 196 males with
the mean age of 17.3, showed that drug use prevalence, including and
excluding cigarette, was 24.5% and 11.1%, respectively.[13] A study was
performed in Lahijan city in 2004 on 2328 high school students, including
42.2% females and 57.8% males.[14] A descriptive study was conducted in
2008 on a 285-member sample of male high school students.
 5. Scope Of Study :
In the last three decades (following the inception of the NDPS), the Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment has conducted two nation-wide drug surveys,
published in 2004 and 201918,19. The results of these surveys suggest that
drug use in India continues to grow unabated. Opioid use has increased from
0.7 per cent in the previous report to a little >2 per cent in the present one - in
terms of magnitude from two million to more than 22 million. More
disturbingly, heroin has replaced the natural opioids (opium and poppy husk)
as the most commonly abused opioids. A large scale epidemiological study
from Punjab also concurred with this finding20. The uses of other synthetic
drugs and cocaine have also increased significantly. The survey results suggest
a need to strengthen our existing system, to have a more concerted effort and
a need to fix the loopholes.

6. Objective Of The Study :

A central element of NIDA’s mission is strategically supporting and conducting
basic and clinical research on drug use (including nicotine), its consequences, and
the underlying neurobiological, behavioral, and social mechanisms involved. The
central focus of NIDA’s mission is to support and conduct biomedical research to
understand, prevent, and treat drug use and its consequences. The goals and
objectives laid out in this strategic plan provide an overview of the broad research
priorities in this area spanning basic science, translational, clinical, applied, and
population-based research. In addition, this plan outlines four priority focus areas
that present unique opportunities to leverage over the next 5 years.

The four strategic goals are:

GOAL 1: Identify the biological, environmental, behavioral, and social causes and
consequences of drug use and addiction across the lifespan
GOAL 2: Develop new and improved strategies to prevent drug use and its
consequences
GOAL 3: Develop new and improved treatments to help people with substance
use disorders achieve and maintain a meaningful and sustained recovery
GOAL 4: Increase the public health impact of NIDA research and program
7. Hypothesis To Be Tested :
The Gateway Hypothesis describes how tobacco or alcohol use precedes
marijuana and other illicit drug use. We review the epidemiological data, explore
the underlying molecular mechanisms in mice and discuss the societal
implications of the hypothesis, including the use of e-cigarettes by young people.
Conclusion Our mouse model identifies biological processes underlying the
hypothesis, showing that nicotine is a gateway drug that exerts a priming effect
on cocaine through increased global acetylation in the striatum.
8. Geographical Area To Be Covered :
The geographical area covered for this research is limited to India.
9. Data Analysis Technique :
Locating and recruiting out-of-treatment drug-dependent individuals for inclusion
in research studies are important and challenging tasks. Targeted sampling, a
technique to reach such populations, has been described in the substance abuse
literature. However, this literature has generally lacked a recent detailed account
of the procedures for planning and implementing targeted sampling. This article
provides a review of the literature of targeted sampling in drug abuse studies and
a detailed description of methodology employed in our ongoing study of entry
and engagement among opioid-dependent individuals in Baltimore, Maryland.
Findings indicate that the out-of-treatment samples recruited from the streets are
quite similar to those recruited from new admissions to opioid treatment
programs, except for their prior treatment experience. This article indicates that
targeted sampling can be useful in an urban setting with pervasive drug use.

10.Research Report :
The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 adolescents and young
adults (11–35 years) from 15 villages of Jalandhar District. Systematic sampling
(probability proportionate to size) was used for the selection of study subjects. A
preformed, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on
type and frequency of drugs abused and other socio-demographic variables. The
statistical evaluation of the data was performed using SPSS software, version
21.0. The prevalence of substance abuse among study group was 65.5% and most
common substance abused was alcohol (41.8%), followed by tobacco (21.3%). A
high prevalence of heroin abusers was noted among study subjects (20.8%). The
prevalence of non-alcohol and nontobacco substance abuse was 34.8%. A
significant association of drug abuse was observed with male gender, illiteracy,
and age above 30 years. The problem of drug abuse in youth of Punjab is a matter
of serious concern as every third person is hooked to drugs other than alcohol
and tobacco. The other striking observations were the high prevalence of heroin
and intravenous drug abuse

11. Financial Budget :

The Financial budget for this Reserch is Nil

Thank You
Naman Parmar
Roll no. 124
SYBMS