The Centre has initiated a multi sectoral approach to tackle the problem of drug abuse through suitable strategies and programmes in North-Eastern States of India, for accelerating awareness to facilitate a wider reach of information especially among the vulnerable groups.
A National Centre for Drug Abuse Prevention has been set up which has so far organised 143 training programmes covering nearly 3,323 services provider in the drug demand reduction sector. Ongoing interventions have resulted in reducing the prevalence of HIV among Injecting Drug Users (IDUsers) in Manipur and Nagaland as reflected in NACO's Sentinels Surveillance Round, 2004.
A qualitative report entitled "Drug Use in the North-Eastern States of India," a Monograph has been compiled by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), recently. According to the report (Monograph), the drug use in the North Eastern States has undergone a change during the last three decades from traditional use of Cannabis and Opium to smoking and injecting of Heroine. The report adds that HIV epidemic follows the Injecting Drug Use (IDU) epidemic as sharing of injection equipment became a norm among ID Users.
Giving profile of drug users in the North-Eastern region, the report says that most of the substance users are male. Women constitute only 5-10 per cent but generally they are burdened due to drug use by family members. The drug users are below the age of 20 years and one-third of them are unmarried. 90 per cent of drug users have been reported to be injecting in Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram. While 50 per cent of the substance users injecting drugs are reported in Meghalaya and Assam. In Arunachal Pradesh 31 per cent of substance users use tobacco, 30 per cent alcohol and 4.8 per cent opium.
The report further says that out of the six states in the country, two states are in the North-East namely Nagaland and Manipur featuring "What epidemiologists call a generalized 'epidemic' with a strong IDU - HIV link" It says that in Mizoram the epidemic appears to be heading towards generalization.
The report recommends accurate monitoring of drug use problem and evaluation of the past and ongoing interventions, community level advocacy, building capacity in human resource through training, reducing the burden on women due to drug use by family members as part of a 'comprehensive package' of service.