TN to study prevalence of drug, alcohol usage among youth aged between 18 and 25 years
The Directorate of Children Welfare and Special Services under the Social Welfare Department will be the nodal agency to implement the scheme, ‘Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse’, funded by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) scheme.
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CHENNAI: The State government will undertake a study on the prevalence and extent of substance and alcohol use among youth aged between 18 and 25 years. The objective of the study is to devise and formulate evidence-based appropriate policies and programmes to prevent the usage of drugs and alcohol.
The Directorate of Children Welfare and Special Services under the Social Welfare Department will be the nodal agency to implement the scheme, ‘Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse’, funded by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) scheme.
The objective of the study was to understand the prevalence of drug and alcohol use in Tamil Nadu, and also identify the socio-economic and demographic background of the users, said a senior official, who would be involved in the survey.
"It will also identify hotspot areas across the State on the consumption of substances and alcohol, besides devise and formulate evidence-based appropriate policies and programmes on prevention of substance and alcohol use," he added.
He said a tender has been floated to select a non-governmental organisation and a non-profit organisation that has experience working on drug and alcohol abuse issues and undertake similar studies. The agency would have to complete the survey in four months.
“At different stages of the study, the selected organisation will provide regular progress reports and updates to the official panel. After the study is completed, it will present the study findings to the department before drafting the final report," he said.
The previous NAPDDR study on the prevalence and extent of substance and alcohol use among the youth was conducted in 2018. Since then, no such survey was conducted and there is no data available from the last five years. The report says alcohol is the most common psycho-active substance used by Indians followed by cannabis and opioids drugs.