PREVENTION OF DRUG ABUSE

 PREVENTION OF DRUG ABUSE

Abuse of alcohol and drugs is a worldwide problem. In countries of the South Asian region including Bangladesh, Butan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, the drugs commonly abused are heroin, cannabis, opium, and pharmaceutical preparations. Abuse of alcohol and tobacco in combinations with other drugs also is seen in these countries. Abuse of drugs not only poses a threat to the individual’s health but consequently gives rise to socioeconomic problems. Alcohol and drug abuse cause stress in a family and drain national resources. 

Families suffer due to cultural and social factors of drug behavior, including their own understanding of the disease process and the addict’s behavior due to drug abuse, draining of family resources, shrinking from responsibilities, sickness and death faced as a consequence of drug abuse, extramarital relations, distortion of interpersonal family relationships, and violence. Family reaction to drug addiction includes denial, blaming, suppressed anger, depression, bargaining, preoccupation, change of personality, and codependency. Family and friends respond differently. In a study done in India, a sizable majority (58%) of family members felt bad; nearly two-fifths expressed their annoyance and anger; about one-fifth (22%) advised the addict to give up drugs and expressed negative and nonsupportive attitudes such as hopelessness and being ashamed of the addict’s act; indifference and desertion by the spouse also were expressed by a smaller percentage of family members. Similarly, 42 percent of friends showed concern, 39 percent broke a friendship, and the rest showed no specific reaction. The community also showed resistance.

To effectively prevent substance misuse, it is important to understand the nature of the problem, including age of onset. Although people generally start using and misusing substances during adolescence, misuse can begin at any age and can continue to be a problem across the lifespan, likelihood of substance use escalates dramatically across adolescence, peaks in a person's twenties, and declines thereafter. For example, the highest prevalence of past month binge drinking and marijuana use occurs at ages 21 and 20, respectively. Other drugs follow similar trajectories, although their use typically begins at a later age.20 Early substance misuse, including alcohol misuse, is associated with a greater likelihood of developing a substance use disorder later in life.21,22 Of those who begin using a substance, the percentage of those who develop a substance use disorder, and the rate at which they develop it, varies by substance.