Akhil Bansal : Recently, Rahul Gandhi pointed out that 7 out of 10 youth of Punjab are into drug abuse. He came into criticism from both expected and unexpected quarters for his highly debatable ‘statistics’. Anyway, his comment points to a deep malaise afflicting the Punjabi society, which can’t be shunned as his statistical veracity, that of the issue of drug addiction among the youth of Punjab.
Generally, when one listen the word ‘drug-addict’, a projection appears in mind of an individual who is a failure, a loser and one who is solely to be blamed for his predicament, victim of failure of career or relationship, victim of peer pressure or a deviant aimless person. Well, these propositions are true to an extent and can’t be ignored, but, in the first place, does anybody question what made him vulnerable to peer pressure, what failed him in his career and how the society is responsible for his situation. A thought on these queries can exhort a person to shift his opinion to one where society, economy and the culture is equally culpable.
Social problems, like drug abuse prevalence, are closely intwined with economic structure and culture of the society. Punjab, taken as a developed state, is today facing the challenge of unemployment, with even bleak future prospects in this regard, this lack of ‘genuine’ opportunity can land a disgruntled person in the trap of drugs, especially when the availability of the same is secured through both internal production and a porous border and accessibility is not curbed by the law and order machinery. Further, due to inherited wealth, generated by the predecessors and a value system among youth that regard the labour jobs as the domain of people from UP, Bihar or Jharkhand, therefore not worth a Punjabi further narrows the available job domain. Furthermore, the foreign-craze and the perception of NRIs as ‘higher’ in social hierarchy, compared to the locals, leads to a situation where many young people are vying to settle abroad, ignoring the local opportunities. For those who are able to fly, it is alright, but those who are left behind, it becomes a precarious situation making them vulnerable to drug abuse, as slowly they start perceiving themselves as a failure and ‘low’ in the social structure. This perceived failure, in many cases, by the individual forces him to become a ‘retreatist’ as described by Robert Merton, therefore one who retreats from social goals and means to achieve them. So, these economic and psychological issues act as a support base for the problem that ensures its ‘demand’ through such vulnerabilities and with uninterrupted supplies, this problem becomes prevalent catching many youth ‘unawares’, who are ‘just in for a try’ or those who need a temporary relaxation dose to cope up with break-ups, exam failures or family issues, hence leading to a vicious cycle which reinforces itself, especially in the absence of any steps taken by the government with respect to prevention, cutting down supply structure and rehabilitation and more importantly, due to the inept handling by the family of the ‘addict’, who rather than psychologically supporting him in this critical phase further ‘pressurize’ him to get the ‘support’ of these substances. At last, the tag of ‘social outcast’ act as a final nail in the coffin of any step to ‘mainstream’ the victim.
So, to blame a person solely for his situation, who in fact, requires strong support from his near and dear ones and a society which is ready to accept and transform him to lead a normal life again, further pushes him deeper in the malaise and with him the society at large. Although, focus on an individual caught in this trap is still required, but that doesn’t gives us the luxury to ignore the base upon which this problem thrives and factors that ensures its tenacity. Albeit, we are not even able to recognize the importance of steps to transform an individual alone, but even if we do , we still needs state intervention for providing employment, stronger law and order administration to check production and supply, an alteration in the value system where those doing labour and local jobs are not perceived as lowly ones and most importantly, a commitment and openness on the part of family, friends and the society to integrate these ‘odd elements’ in, otherwise we will find ourselves just dealing with the symptoms of the disease , with the ‘virus’ still at the core damaging the ‘social body’ in its diabolical multifarious ways.