Karnataka - Bangalore   

`Drug use not alarming'

Staff Reporter

Alcohol, tobacco bigger threat than marijuana: expert

BANGALORE: Alcohol, tobacco, inhalants for children and sedatives sold over the counter are a greater threat to society than party drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and heroin, which account for less than five per cent of the problems due to drug abuse in the country.

These statistics come from an expert at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-sciences (NIMHANS) here.

Quoting the Drug Demand Reduction Report of 1999, Vivek Benegal, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, said Bangalore, home to about 0.6 per cent of the country's population, contributed about 3.4 per cent of the drug users in the country.

However, the drug use in the city had not yet reached alarming levels due to preference to alcohol as the main drug of use, thrust on education, better opportunities for socialisation and lesser tolerance for deviance.

Still, drug abuse related data and enforcement data point to a re-emergence of heroin and marijuana (ganja) or cannabis. The reason: cheap and easy accessibility.

Another serious problem is the inhalant abuse among the poorer classes.

Stress buster

Students prefer marijuana as a stress buster for its mildly hallucinogenic properties, which plays with their perception.

According to Dr. Benegal, the drug alters the structure and functioning of the young brain which is still developing. At NIMHANS, the efforts are to delay the first use of the drug among the young by educating them as prohibition has never worked, he explains.

To address the issue of drug abuse, alcoholism and use of tobacco, a Rapid Assessment Survey carried out by NIMHANS calls for continued monitoring, dialogue between supply and demand reduction agencies and a more pro-active approach to developing preventive strategies.

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