Chandigarh: On an average, 20 persons – most aged below 35 – arrive at state-run drug de-addiction centers in Haryana every day for treatment. At present, there are eight such centers in general hospitals at Ambala, Hissar, Gurgaon, Karnal, Kurukshetra , Sirsa, Narnaul and Kaithal.
Times of India spoke to psychiatrists at such centers to get the number and tendency of drugs among patients visiting these places for treatment.
Dr Brahamdeep Sindhu, psychiatrist at the Gurgaon center, said he received 30-40 addicts everyday for treatment and most of them were under 35 years.
Dr Sindhu – who is also running a special awareness campaign in the district in view of the increasing number of addicts – said the surge in addicts could be gauged from the fact that earlier they had OPD on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but now it functions on all working days.
He says most of the addicts had turned to drugs due to peer pressure and easy availability, adding that 40% of the patients from Gurgaon and adjoining areas were alcoholics, while the rest were addicted to cannabis, opioids and sedatives.
Revealing the shocking state of drug abuse in the district, Dr Suresh Bhatia, psychiatrist at the Hisar center, told TOI that 95 percent of the 15 to 20 persons visiting his center every day were hooked to smack. He said a majority of such addicts are from urban areas of Hisar, Hansi, and Uklana.
Dr Bhatia said boys as young as 14 years old sought treatment. When asked, they said that initially the smack was provided free of cost in the group, but later they got addicted to it. Abuse of smack by youngsters in the region indicate that the drug is easily available, he said.
Confirming the arrival of as many as 15-20 addicts every day at the OPD, Dr Jagtar Singh, psychiatrist at the Karnal-based de-addiction centre, said people in the area were into ‘bhukki’ (poppy husk), psychotropic tablets and alcohol.
During counselling, he noticed that many were addicted to bhukki, which is said to be supplied in villages during elections. Sirsa district – which borders Punjab and is vulnerable to drug abuse – does not even have a psychiatrist at its de-addiction centre. Same is the case with the other centers at Ambala and Narnaul.