Drug abusers in Goa now 13-14 year olds (ToI)

Anisha Francis, TNN | Jun 29, 2014, 02.04AM IST

PANAJI: Doctors in Goa are concerned about the increasing prevalence of drug abuse among Goan teenagers.
"It's a worrisome trend; and the middle-class is the worst hit. We are seeing a sharp increase in cases of school students, some as young as 13 and 14 years, hooked to recreational drugs. In older teens, we also see addiction to opiate drugs," says Dr Ashish Srivastav, who runs the child and adolescent clinic at the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB).

There's a marked decrease in age of initiation of drug use, say experts who earlier used to treat youngsters of 17 and above.
According to the last study conducted by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme in 2002, the mean age of drug use initiation in Goa was 17.4 years in boys and 15.9 years in girls.

"Increase in general awareness and easy access to medical care may be contributing factors to this trend," says Srivastav. In most cases though, the parents are clueless about their children's drug problems.

"They bring them to the clinic for various other issues-poor grades in school, problems in concentration or sudden withdrawal from family and friends. It is only after a few sessions alone with the counsellor that the child opens up and admits to being dependant on narcotics," he explains. "Even then, it is a sticky situation, as the child begs us not to tell his parents. But to able to continue treatment, we have to inform the parents, who don't usually take the news very well," he explains.

It's a combination of factors that leads such young teens into drug and alcohol dependency-for one, their parents may indulge them with way too much money, and are unable to spend enough time to supervise how they spend it. "It appears that drugs are also available more easily these days, quite often it is a peer who supplies the stuff," he adds.

At Chaitanya Psychosocial Rehabilitation Centre in Tivim, there are 10 to 15 youngsters admitted for narcotic addiction at any given time.

"Even though we only admit patients over 18 years, most of them have a history of drug use starting from their early teens. Their studies suffer, they drop out of school or college and many of them have other psychotic disorders as well due to prolonged substance abuse, by the time they are brought to rehab," says Jinu Joseph, who runs the facility.

"They are given medication to help deal with cravings, but it is the structured programme of group therapy, recreation and relaxation techniques and family sessions that can help in the healing process. We insist that the family visits often, and the youngster has to be re-taught how to be social again," says Joseph.

Srivastav urges parents to make it a point to know their child's circle of friends well, and to look out for signs of drug use right from the early teens. "Parents need to be tactful, it does not help to constantly spy on, or nag the child, to take an authoritative approach. The important thing is to be open and friendly. The younger we are able to identify a drug user, the more willing he will be to quit the habit," he adds. tnn
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Drug-abusers-in-Goa-now-13-14-year-olds/articleshow/37416823.cms