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Amid growing cases of drug abuse, the dearth of quality de-addiction and rehabilitation centres across the state seems to be only making matters worse

What started as a harmless whiff has turned into a tornado that devasted Avinash’s (name changed) life. He slogged to get admission into one of India’s premier technology colleges but had to drop out because his drug addiction could no longer let him be himself. His parents, both high-ranking government officers from Visakhapatnam, joined him in a private college through the management quota, paying a huge fee Avinash couldn’t continue there either.

Rajesh (name changed), a 28-year-old software engineer hailing from Tirupati never fell prey to drugs as a student. But the vice caught up to him when he joined an MNC in Bengaluru. His parents smelled something fishy when he refused to come home to Tirupati even though he opted to work from home during the COVID pandemic. An unannounced visit to this flat in Bengaluru gave them the shock of their lives. He, along with a group of his friends, was found to be in an intoxicated condition after consuming drugs.

While Avinash’s parents are still in search of a good de-addiction centre with an in-house facility to join him, Rajesh’s parents admitted him to the Deaddiction Center at SVRR Government Hospital. After a month-long treatment, Rajesh managed to get his life together, but only after paying a hefty price—he lost his dream job.

“We get a good number of cases from Bangalore and other metropolises. They are mostly from the combined Chittoor district working in MNCs. At present, we have a 15-bed facility, though we treat over 40 cases in a month,” Medical Officer (Deaddiction Center, SVRR) R. Manasa told The Hindu

As per the 2022 census, the Deaddiction centre at SVRR itself had treated more than 890 cases of alcoholism, 1056 cases of tobacco addiction, 53 cannabis addiction, 12 cocaine addiction and hundred other cases under various kinds of drug and behavioral addictions.

Many cases of minors consuming addictive drugs have been reported across the Vijayawada region as well, say the officials.

“We are getting frequent cases of minors taking to alcohol, ganja and smoking. The children were referred to different CCIs, but there are no qualified counsellors and de-addiction centres around,” says Krishna District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Chairperson, K. Suvartha.