Drug Policy
- The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has developed the Scheme of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse. Its focus is:
- Awareness and Preventive Education
- Drug Awareness and Counselling Centres
- Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCAs)
- Workplace Prevention Programme (WPP)
- De-addiction Camps
- NGO forum for Drug Abuse Prevention
- Evidence Based Interventions to strengthen community based rehabilitation
- Technical Exchange and Manpower development programme
- Surveys, Studies, Evaluation and Research on the subjects covered under the scheme.
- There is a government unit responsible for and a budget line within the annual budget to support the prevention and treatment of SUD
Treatment Services
- ‘De-addiction’ centres are the primary providers of drug treatment delivery, however many of these are unauthorised and do not follow regulated or evidence based programmes
- Services are also available through government hospitals, NGOs, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes
- Treatment access relies upon submission of medical reports and taking an oath not to commit drug-related offences again
- Opioid substitution therapy (OST)
- HIV testing
- There are inpatient and outpatient medical detoxification services
Prevention Services
- There is a specific government department and budget set aside for substance abuse prevention strategies
- Information on substance abuse is obligatory in school curriculum
- There are mass media programmes promoting awareness of SUD
- School and community based programmes educating the population about the impact of SUD
- Harm reduction programmes include community based needle exchange intervention and outreach services for injecting drug users.
- Rigorous imprisonment (up to 10 years) for cultivation/ embezzlement of opium cannabis or coca plants
- 10- 20 years for trafficking or financing drug transportation
- Addicts volunteering for treatment get immunity from some punishable offences
For more info and stats on drug use trends in India please access: The Magnitude on Substance Use in India
Sources