Highlights on the Magnitude of Substance use in India
                      
 
Highlights on the Magnitude of Substance use in India 
 
It is a well known fact that many psychoactive substances including alcohol, 
cannabis, and opioids have been used in India for millennia, there is little 
information available about the present extent and pattern of this use, as well 
as the issues it causes. 
 
The Government of India's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment 
(MoSJE) ordered a National Survey on the Extent and Pattern of Substance Use 
in India in an attempt to fill this gap.Indians most frequently use alcohol as a 
psychoactive substance (among the substances included in this survey). 
Between 10 and 75 years old, 14.6% of the population nationwide uses alcohol. 
In thecountry there are roughly 16 crore alcohol consumers (in terms of absolute 
numbers) . Men use alcohol at a rate of 27.3% compared to women's usage, only 
1.6%. 
The states with the highest rates of alcohol use include Goa, Punjab, Arunachal 
Pradesh, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh.Country liquor, also known as "desi sharab," 
and spirits, also known as Indian Made Foreign Liquor, are the most popular 
alcoholic beverages among drinkers (approximately 30% each). 
Cannabis and opioids are the second most popular drugs in India after alcohol. 
The authorised form of cannabis (bhang) and other illicit cannabis products were 
further distinguished in terms of cannabis consumption (ganja and charas). 
Bhang use was seen to be about 2% (or roughly 2.2 crore people) and illegal 
cannabis product use to be about 1.2% (or roughly 1.3 crore people). Uttar 
 
 
Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi have the highest rates of 
cannabis consumption per capita. 
Opioids, such as opium (or its derivatives such poppy husk known as 
doda/phukki), heroin (or its impure form, smack or brown sugar), and a range of 
pharmaceutical opioids, are used by about 2.1% of the country's population, or 
2.26 crore people. 
Opioids used most frequently in the country are heroin (1.14%), prescription 
opioids (0.96%), and opium (0.52%). The states with the highest frequency of 
opioid use in the general population (more than 10%) are Sikkim, Arunachal 
Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram. 
The recent survey's finding that heroin usage is far more common in India than 
opium use is noteworthy when it comes to opioids. 
The only substance category for which children and adolescents are more likely 
than adults to report current usage (1.17% vs. 0.58% total prevalence) is 
inhalants (0.7%). 
In India, a wide range of pharmacological medications are used, all of which have 
the characteristics of being sedative-hypnotics and having a high potential for 
addiction. Many of these items have valid and significant medical uses. 
Around 1.18 crore persons in India, or 1.08% of the population, currently take 
sedatives. The use of sedatives is more prevalent in some Indian states than 
others, as is the case with other drugs. The three states with the highest rates 
of current sedative usage are Mizoram (3.8%), Nagaland (5.4%), and Sikkim 
(8.6%). However, the top five states with the highest sedative use rates are Uttar 
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat 
Male users of cocaine are estimated to make up 0.18% of Indians, while female 
users make up 0.01%. This translates to around 10.7 lakh current cocaine users 
in the nation. The percentage of people who use cocaine in a dangerous and 
dependent manner is likewise quite low (0.03%). Maharashtra, Punjab, 
Rajasthan, and Karnataka are states with significant numbers of active cocaine 
users. 
A small percentage of Indians also use Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS), 
same to how they do cocaine. The prevalence in the general population is 0.18%. 
(i.e. about 19.4 lakh individuals). On a national level, it is estimated that 7 lakh 
people (or slightly under 0.06%) use ATS in a detrimental or dependent manner. 
 
 
Maharashtra , Telangana (2.4 lakh), Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur are 
states with significant populations of ATS users. There are also an estimated 
50,000 ATS users in Delhi. 
3.4 lakh Indians, or around 0.03% of the population, require assistance due to 
their dangerous or compulsive use of hallucinogens.The states of Maharashtra, 
Telangana, Kerala, and Delhi have significant populations of users of 
hallucinogens. 
Treatment 
2.6% of all alcohol-dependent adults who attempted to quit reported obtaining 
any support or treatment, or roughly 25% of those who tried to quit. Spiritual / 
religious help was the most common type of assistance among those who 
received assistance or treatment (33%) and was followed by a "government 
doctor or health facility" (25%). Only 21% of those who received any kind of 
assistance or treatment said they had been admitted to the hospital due to 
alcohol use problems. 
The same pattern can be seen in people who depend on illegal narcotics. Around 
44% of individuals who struggled with drug addiction said they had tried to stop 
using drugs; of these, about 25% (or roughly 12% of all drug users) said they had 
ever 
sought help or therapy. For 40% of individuals who had received care, a 
government hospital was the most frequent source. 
Athena Behavioral Health is the leading provider of best de addiction centres 
in Delhi . We offer affordable, high-quality treatment for patients with a wide 
range of behavioral health issues including: depression, anxiety, addiction , drug 
abuse, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and more. It delivers  high quality, 
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Read More : Detox Centers in India, Mental Hospital Gurgaon 
 
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