More than three million people, mainly men, in Punjab are consuming one or the other kind of drug.
Alcohol is the maximally abused substance by more than two million, followed by tobacco consumed by more than 1.5 million people, according to a study by the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) .
The abuse of opioids is by 1.7 lakh individuals, followed by cannabinoids as well as sedative-inhalant stimulants. The latter are largely a class of pharmacological or prescription drugs being used illicitly.
It was published in the second edition of ‘Roadmap for Prevention and Control of Substance Abuse in Punjab’.
The report contains information on the burden of substance abuse in the country and in Punjab, various types of substances abused by people, strategies for prevention and control and the district substance abuse prevention plan and its implementation.
The book is in simple form, easily understood by the technical and the layman.
The Governor appreciated the role of public health approaches to deal with these social menaces. He endorsed the essence of this report — prevention is better than cure in all respects.
