BHUBANESWAR: Odisha today ranks third in terms of ganja or charas use. It is also among the top three states that house the highest number of people with opioid and cannabis use problems and among top 10 states with people needing help for alcohol and sedative-related issues.
Worried over the rise in drug abuse cases and frequent seizure of narcotics and contraband from different parts of the State, Odisha Police has proposed a State-wide survey and setting up drug dependence treatment centres at three medical colleges and hospitals. A dedicated scheme for alternate livelihood in cannabis growing areas of the State has also been suggested to keep people away from its cultivation.
As per the proposed survey which is under active consideration of the government, the State specific survey on drug use will be carried out on the lines of the national survey with samples from each district for detailed demographic patterns of drug dependence and abuse. Drug trafficking in the State is predominantly seen as both supply and demand issues.
A senior Home department official said as both addiction and abuse are public health issues, the government is planning to establish drug dependence treatment centres at three old medical colleges and hospitals in the first phase which may be scaled up later. “The Additional Chief Secretary of Health has been urged to take necessary action at the earliest for drug dependence treatment centres and the Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department asked to plan for an alternate livelihood scheme,” he said.
The first comprehensive drug abuse survey in the country was carried out by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) at AIIMS New Delhi in 2019. As per the national survey on extent and pattern of substance use in India, nearly 4.5 pc of the population of 10 to 75 years used ganja/charas against 1.2 pc population nationally.
The State, where 4.9 lakh people needed help for cannabis-related problems, was ranked third after Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. While 21 lakh people needed help for alcohol problems, three lakh people sought help for opioid related problems.
Worrying trend
4.9L people of Odisha needing help for cannabis- related problems
Odisha among
top-10 states with people needing help for sedative related issues
2L people needed help for alcohol problems
Police seized 35.616 kg brown sugar in 2020, 17 times the volume seized in 2019