SHILLONG:
The president of Meghalaya Users Forum, Neil Jaitly Khongwir, told The Meghalayan that the centres to treat substance abuse is far from adequate as the ones present offer less and limited bed capacity – around 15 beds.
The trend of substance abuse remains the same as youngsters are very much in the habit of learning from their peers and try out various substances.
“Easy availability of alcohol and drugs is another problem that makes an inquisitive youngster more likely to get into substance abuse. Lack of sporting activities and promotion of arts is another problem which leaves the youth with no recreation at all except roaming about aimlessly,” he said.
On de-addiction centres which are generally costly leaving these out of reach of the poor section, Khongwir said that Kripa Foundation has a quota for giving free treatment patients on a need basis.
“And for juveniles, Kripa has a free quota. But again it’s not possible for only Kripa to be doing all the treatment. Government needs to get other well known NGOs like VHAM and Manbha Foundation to be involved in setting up rehab centres. Government involvement and push is the key”, he said.
Addiction scenario
He said that heroin is mostly in use in the urban areas along with other oral substances; lots of other drug abuse is also picking up.
“Having said this, the rural areas too are now exposed to drugs as a potential pot of gold for big dealers as not many NGOs are catering to those districts and without knowledge/awareness,” he said.
Project Director of New Hope de-addiction center Ksanrimai Syiemlieh said that drug abuse is on the rise and the age group of 18-25 years is vulnerable. The trend of substance abuse among women is mostly imitation and lifestyle.
“Only de-addiction centres cannot overcome the problem. We need to work together as a family; police, counselling centres, education and other departments should contribute in the fight against this menace,” she said.
As pointed out by Syiemlieh, a problem that the society is facing is the issue of users falling prey to substance abuse once again and some of the reasons for relapse may be too much of leisure time, friend circle or peer pressure, lack of family support, etc.
New Hope’s future plans is to come up with a support group interrelated to recovery group, continuing counseling after discharge and involving in vocational skills etc.
A social welfare department official said that counselling side by side with detoxification is important.
“Some go for detoxification in Civil Hospital but they don’t go for rehabilitation. People are bound to relapse. They need to maintain sobriety,” the official said.
The official said that the districts identified as vulnerable are Shillong, Jowai, Tura, and Baghmara, due to the close proximity with the border.
Catch ‘em young
The Kripa Juvenile De-addiction Center was started in 2021. The centre currently has 13 inmates from Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura.
The in-charge, Meba Nongrum, said, “The youngest so far was a 9-year- old child who was an injecting drug user.”
To cater to the needs of the restless young minds, the centre ensures that juvies get into activities done in a fun way.
Child psychologist Riyaka Surong, said, “We follow the 12- step programme. We make it fun. There are group activities, counselling sessions, arts and craft, puzzles – the meaningful ones, they should be able to know what is the objective and outcome of the activities, there are also libraries. They are also taught the alphabet.”
With the society still unable to free itself from the shackles of discrimination, Nongrum said that the children are looked at differently by schools.
Regarding issues with families, she said, “Some families are irresponsible. Some of them want to keep their children here for an entire year although the treatment is only for 90 days.”
Nongrum felt that a re-integration programme is necessary especially for those who are school drop-outs. “The plan is to engage them in something after the treatment,” she said.
Drug peddlers use the juveniles to supply drugs and instead of money, the peddlers give them drugs.
The project director of the centre, Sherrard Wahlang, was of the view that the education department, health department, the legal system should work in tandem to ensure that the juveniles get holistic development. (From Meghalaya AIDS Control Society)