Prevalence of Substance Abusers in a Tourist Area Volume 2 - Issue 1

Mubashar Mashqoor Mir¹, Susan Jalali², Audil Mateen³, Karan Dev Singh⁴, Vilayat Ali⁵ and Mohammad Sarwar Mir⁶*

• ¹Medical Officer and Resident Dermatology, J and K Health, India
• ²RMO, SKIMS, India
• ³Medical Officer and Pediatrician, J and K Health, India
• ⁴Resident Pediatrics, JK Health, India
• ⁵Resident Radio Diagnosis, JK health, India
• ⁶Senior Resident, SKIMS, India

Received: January 01, 2019;   Published: January 17, 2019

Corresponding author: Mohammad Sarwar Mir, Senior Resident, SKIMS, India

DOI: 10.32474/SJPBS.2019.02.000129

Abstract PDF

Introduction: Drug abuse is becoming the emerging problem in the youth which breaks back of any nation and it is more prevalent in tourist areas.

Material and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during the month of January 2015 at health camps organized in a tourist area by an NGO HR foundation. Total 200 subjects were studied.

Results and conclusion: In this study majority of cases were males belonging to younger age groups. Majority of the patients belonged to lower socioeconomic section. 60% of the subjects were poly substance abuser. Charas was the most commonly abused substance followed by alcohol.

Keywords: Substance Abuse; Youth; Drugs; Tourist

The drug abuse is the complex problem of not only of individual but also of the entire community [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) substance use is persistent or sporadic drug inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practices [2]. A drug is broadly defined as any chemical agent that affects living protoplasm. Some drugs reinforcement i.e. they produce the effects that user enjoys and which make him/her wish to take it again or to induce drug seeking behavior [3]. Drug addiction symptoms or behaviors (in general) includes: Feeling that you have to use the drug regularly; Failing in your attempts to stop using the drug; Spending money on the drug, even though you can’t afford it; Doing things to obtain the drug that you normally wouldn’t do, such as stealing; Feeling that you need the drug to deal with your problems; and Focusing more and more time and energy on getting and using the drug. The drug addiction is rampant in tourist areas. The aim of this study was to find out profile and pattern of substance abuse in a tourist area of Srinagar.

A cross sectional survey was conducted during the period of January 2015 at a tourist area in Srinagar. The relevant data was collected related to profile and pattern was collected using a predesigned and pretested proforma (Figures 1 & 2). Data was entered in MS Excel and analyzed by using percentage and proportion wherever appropriate.

The information was gathered for a total of 2000 participants in the study out of which 200 turned out to be substance abusers (Figure 3).

Figure 1: Prevalence of substance abuse.

Figure 2: Age wise distribution of cases.

Figure 3: Socioeconomic Status.

The drug abuse is the complex problem of not only of individual but also of the entire community. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) substance use is persistent or sporadic drug inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practices. It the biggest challenge that youth has to face all over the world. In the present study, the maximum numbers of subjects were found to be age less than 40 years (Figures 4 & 5). The various studies [1,5,6] conducted also show that maximum number of study subjects were adults aged less than 40 years. The trend is disturbing as the most productive section of society is involved in drug abuse which can have disastrous consequences.85% of the subjects were males similar findings were observed in other studies[1,4,5,6] 60 % of the cases belonged to lower economic class. Charas was the most commonly abused substance may be because of its easy availability followed by alcohol.

Figure 4: Gender wise distribution of cases.

Figure 5: Distribution of cases according to substance abused.

The socio-demographic profile revealed that younger age, low socio economic status and educational background were frequent observations with drug abusers.

1. Jumade PP, Kasbe AM, Giri PA (2016) Socio-demographic profile of male drug abusers residing in Mumbai city, India. Int J Community ed Public Health 3(5): 1115-1118.
2. WHO (1999) Techn Res Ser No 886: 48.
3. Goodman, Gilman’s (2011) The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, (12th edn). Chapter 1, Drug Invention and the Pharmaceutical Industry, p. 3.
4. Mayo Clinic Diseases and Condition: Drug Addiction.
5. Kumar V, Nehra DK, Kumar P, Sunila, Gupta R (2013) Prevalence and Pattern of Substance Abuse: A study from Deaddiction Centre; State Institute of Mental Health, Rohtak, Delhi. Psychiatry Journal 16(1): 15- 23.
6. Manick, Singh M (2013) Drug addiction and alcoholism in Punjab: an empirical study of a village. Political Economy Journal of India.