FOCUS ON REHABILITATION AND NOT CRIMINALIZATION

FOCUS ON REHABILITATION AND NOT CRIMINALIZATION 

                                    Being a home to almost fifth of the world’s youth, India’s young population is its most valuable asset. They have the creativity, the potential as well as the capacity to make changes happen not only for themselves but for the rest of the world. However, at the same time it poses the most pressing challenge as the youth has an inclination to get misdirected by the mischievous elements prevailing in the society. The traditional and cultural values are being influenced by the west and the competing ways of life that exist can be considered either as a choice or a cause of confusion for young people. For a country like India to move from a developing to the developed and progressive nation, the young people need to be motivated in goal directed manner rather than being used and getting lost under the influence of people in the world of glare.

                                    The youth and adolescents are at the crossroads of critical juncture as they are facing the issues of poverty, unemployment, corruption, suicide and various kinds of socio-economic problems on one hand while on the other more and more youngsters are falling prey to the drug peddlers and becoming part of the drug club. The drug addiction has become a leading cause of youth crime as well as a leading factor in suicide and homicide amongst young people. In the poorer countries the poverty, impoverishment and under nutrition drive the youth to drugs while in developing countries exposure to excessive money, freedom of choice and loneliness propel them to addiction. This kind of social shift from the lower and middle class to the upper middle and rich ones in narcotic consumption associated with a super sophisticated narco network of home delivery to the ones living in the world of glare has made drugs a high- profile network crime. There has been a 500 percent rise in drug busts worldwide during the past decade and a recent confiscation of 3000 kg of heroin at a port in Gujarat reflects a growing demand as well as the fact that drugs are penetrating far more into the cities and towns than what we could think of few years ago. The narcotics trade has now become the third largest global enterprise after arms and petroleum.

                                     Addiction is a brain-based disorder and the adolescence and young adulthood are critical periods in the development of such addictions. The susceptibility of young people to developing addictions more rapidly has to do with the fact that the brain is immature and specific proteins in the brain are not fully developed until around age 25 — creating a greater vulnerability to addiction during this time. Adolescence, the transition period between childhood and adulthood, is a time of highs and lows and as the child is taught how to eat, how to speak and how to walk the time has come to teach adolescents and young adults to embrace healthy attitudes and behaviours. The parents, influence of family and friends, teachers and educational tool, all play a major role in guiding and portraying such kind of behaviours.

                                         As youngsters today have more spending power, have freedom to live life in their own way, have less involved parents due to total collapse of the joint family system and are being easily influenced by the glamorous world the target of the drug syndicates everywhere has been the youth. Actually the physical and emotional closeness between parent and child is getting replaced by a wireless connectivity with virtual world which has no social, emotional and moral bindings and boundaries. This makes them more susceptible to the world of fantasies, subsequently finding a refuge through drugs and its illusionary and high effects.

                                       The misguided youth who get indulged into such a kind of practice because of one reason or other need to be rehabilitated first rather than being criminalised. The effective addiction treatment is behavioural in nature and utilises a comprehensive and holistic methods from medicine, counselling, and peer involvement to support changes in thinking and behaviour until new healthy habits become as engrained in the brain as the addiction once was. Unfortunately, most often it is the other way round and rather than following such a healthy protocol the disheartening fact remains that the youth is portrayed as a criminal before it is proven, not only spoiling his image but inculcating the seeds of revolt and negativity.

                                       Thus the overall situation has many factors working at the same time, some which are conducive to progress and others that are barriers. In a world of rapidly changing social and economic landscape, young people need to be guided properly by their parents, teachers, and relatives with the right mix of skills, information, knowledge and proficiency. At the same time the nexus between the police, narcotics sleuths and the drug mafia, that is playing havoc within the society, should be broken and specific initiatives to involve young people in a range of topics so to foster thoughtful, productive, and engaged citizens in future need to be encouraged.

 

Dr. Pawan Suri

Chief Cardiologist

Global Hospital, Jalandhar, Punjab