National 11 (Spotlight Weekly)

Students At The Top

A recent survey shows a sharp rise in the number of female substance abusers

By THAKUR AMGAI

Anjana Khadka (not her real name) has been taking drugs regularly for the last three years. The 19-year-old Grade 12 student is aware of the health hazards and social disapproval her addiction invites. She dreads those thoughts, too. But still she cannot quit. She knows there are rehabilitation centers that can help her stop taking drugs and live a normal life. Yet she does not want to quit.

"Nobody understands my feelings - parents, relatives, teachers, friends, no one," she says, desperately waiting to get her dose for the day. "Nobody cares about me. That's why I started taking drugs."

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Frenzied as they may sound, her words convey the feelings of countless youths of the city. Condemning parents for not understanding their problems, they seek solace in drugs. "At this age group, it is natural for kids to go through some psychological changes, but that should not lead to addiction," says a professor of psychology. "It is because of the parents' ignorance that kids fall into drug abuse."

Most users say they forget all their sorrows of real life and revel in euphoria when they are under the influence of drugs. "It gives me a 'high' and I forget everything else," say Khadka. "It gives me great satisfaction."

She began taking drugs three years ago in a gathering of friends. She started with alcohol and soon went on to take tablets. Now she takes everything that gives her a 'high', including intravenous drugs (IVD), which are solutions injected with a syringe through the veins.

The number of IVD users has been increasing sharply in the city. It is because of the rise of this category of drug users - who share the same syringe - that HIV/AIDS is spreading at such an alarming rate.

A survey carried out recently shows that there are at least 2,000 female drug addicts in the valley alone, most of them students. The survey was conducted by Richmond Fellowship Nepal, a non-governmental organization working against drug abuse in Nepal. It showed that the maximum number of substance users, 60.5 percent, are between the age group of 12 and 29, 2.5 percent were between 30 and 39, and a minimal 1.5 percent were above 40.

The survey also showed that students exceeded every other group in terms of drug addiction. Some 15.5 percent substance users were students, 7.5 percent were housewives, 2 percent were wage workers, 6.5 percent were jobholders and 7.5 percent were involved in business.

Among them, 17.5 percent consumed alcohol, 3 percent tablets, 11.5 percent heroin, 3 percent cannabis, 61.5 percent solvents and poly drugs and the rest 5.5 percent consumed other different types of drugs. The majority of the substance users (77 percent) were literate and only 26 percent sought treatment.

The report also presents case studies of substance users coming from different backgrounds. One girl began using IVDs after her boyfriend introduced her to drugs two years ago. She took the drugs in the hope of getting engaged with him. All he has been proposing so far is a physical relationship, which she has been rebuffing.

The report also tells the story of a 29-year-old sex worker who has been into drugs. The street dweller lives with her two kids. She hopes to educate her children well, but acknowledges that is next to impossible. The cycle of despair spins faster.