Page 24 - Tehelka Issue 14E

CoverStory
POOR INFRASTRUCTURE n the grip of an alarming drugs menace, Punjab
is struggling hard to get over the problem lately
with little hope of success. In the last two months
HINDERS FUNCTIONING I 30 people have died of drugs overdose. These
are of course recorded cases. There are so many oth-
ers whose deaths are not even recorded for fear of
AT DE-ADDICTION UNITS shame. Desperate to curb the problem, Punjab Chief
Minister Capt Amarinder Singh even suggested
death penalty for first-time drug offenders, but the
idea may not be feasible, said experts.
Poor infrastructure of treatment and rehabilita-
tion centres for drug patients haunts Punjab. Low
number of convictions is another major flaw in deal-
ing with the problem at hand. The Patients count in
Poor infrastructure at de-addiction the state is huge and de-addiction centres with bed
and rehabilitation centres and lack of facilities is inadequate. According to official figures,
total number of patients who came for treatment in
occupational therapies across the state Punjab in both government and private centres in
make the problem more difficult to tackle, the year 2016 was 1.49 lakh and 1.08 lakh in 2017. Fig-
ures for 2018 are yet to be compiled. Punjab govern-
writes RAJENDRA KHATRY ment runs 37 de-addiction centre and 22 rehabilita-
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DRUG MENACE
tion centres in the state. Unofficial figures of the drug last few years. Naturally, patients seeking help to get rid
patients in Punjab is more than three lakh.
of the addiction too is very large. This puts pressure on
the drug de-addiction centres as they are finding it diffi-
To cater to the patients, there are just 96 de-addic-
tion and 77 private rehabilitation centres in the state, cult to deal with such large number of addicted persons.
Around 1,400 patients had been admitted in various de-
but these are not enough for the large number of
patients.
addiction centres of the state.
Most of the private de-addiction centres in the state
Talking to Tehelka, Dr Debashish Basu — MD, DNB,
MAMS —Professor of Psychiatry, Drug De-addiction cater to local patients. A visit to the Aakash Hospital
in Gulmohar complex, Kharar, in the outskirts of Mo-
and Treatment Centre, Department of Psychiatry. Post-
graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, hali revealed several patients waiting for their turn
Chandigarh — said beds available at PGI Drug-deacti- for treatment. “We are a 10-bedded hospital and pro-
vation centre is just 20 and only 18 patients are admit- vide the best of treatment to the patients at a reason-
ted at present. “Around 2,000 new patients come for able cost. There are many such centres in Kharar teh-
treatment at the PGI every year and 8000 drug patients sil itself,” said Dr Jivan Babu, medical in-charge of the
come annually for follow-up measures,” said Dr Basu. hospital.
According to Dr Jivan Babu, only in serious cases
Dr Basu said success rate of treatment of Drug pa-
tients depends on how one defines ‘success’. If it’s a nar- only patients are admitted. Otherwise they can get
row abstinence oriented definition (totally abstinent treatment from home. But cases of relapse happen
from all drugs for at least three years) then the percent- more where the patients are at home during treatment
and there is no proper monitoring of their activities.
age is very low at 20-30 per cent. If it’s a broad, func-
tionally-oriented definition (eg. Occasional lapses, but “Will power of the patient counts a lot. He must ensure
no major relapse, functioning reasonably well in family, to stay away from drugs after treatment. Unfortunately,
occupational and society with no major setbacks, then after treatment the patients go back to their friends
the percentage will be 40 to 60 per cent. It also depends and relatives who are addicted. Once the patients start
on the type of drugs and many other factors. said Dr taking drugs again, the same medicines have to be re-
Basu. peated,” said Dr Jivan Babu.
Incidentally Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Talking to Tehelka, relatives of a patient Bhupinder
Singh had taken a vow that he will wipe out the drug Singh, (name changed) resident of Kurali, said Bhupin-
problem within a month of coming to power. But he der’s elder brother too had become a victim of the drugs
has failed miserably. Now, almost one and a half years a couple of years ago. The family is engaged in farming.
later there seems no way the problem can even be con- It was Bhupinder who was looking after the family. But
tained, leave aside be resolved. a few months ago he started behaving strangely. Later
The government has tried several measures to check it was discovered that he had become a victim of drugs
the growing drug problem, but the results have not through the friends of his elder brother. Bhupinder was
been very encouraging. In the recent months there has brought for treatment. Initially he responded well, but
been a massive crackdown on the drug peddlers and later he went back to drugs and that created a problem.
smugglers. As a result Punjab is reportedly set for a re- The relatives do not have enough money to admit him
cord seizure of heroin this year. to the hospital so he stays at home and gets treatment.
But what is worrying is the low number of convic- But the family fears he may start taking drugs again
tions of smugglers in the last two years. In the first six after treatment due to its easy availability in the sur-
months of this year in Punjab, a record 215 kgs of heroin rounding areas.
was seized by the police, BSF, NCB and other agencies. “Unless the patient is willing to quit the habit him-
In 2017, only 193 kgs of heroin was recovered. Similarly self, it is very difficult to force him to do so as he will
last year 1,915.7 kg of ganja was recovered by the po- go back to his old ways at the first opportunity,” said Dr
lice in Punjab, but this year in the first six month itself Jiban Babu.
1,817.06 kg of it has been recovered. Doctors at private de-addiction centres are unwill-
However, the Punjab police have been under fire for ing to share number of patients treated. They have a
the poor conviction rate as they failed to gather enough reason to do so also as the Punjab Substance Use Dis-
evidence against drug smugglers and ultimately they order Treatment and Counselling and Rehabilitation
were set free by the High Court. According to the Pun- Centre Rules, 2011, prohibits the medical professionals
jab CAG report, more than 700 cases of drug smuggling from sharing patient records.
had failed because the prosecutions were not proper or A doctor in the Psychiatry Department at the PGIM-
because of poor evidence gathered by the police. ER, Chandigarh who would not like to be named, said
The number of drug patients in Punjab is huge and in the problem at hand is getting out of control and it is
lakhs. Drug patients count has risen alarmingly in the very difficult to even contain it now. The question is if all
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