Hyderabad: Snorting coke (cocaine) and heroin could be the latest fad among the young and the rich in the city, a trend that is leading to a steep rise in the number of addicts walking through the doors of Hyderabad’s rehabilitation centres. While this figure is fast bloating, what seems to be shrinking rapidly is the age group of these junkies’ undergoing treatment at de-addiction homes which have reported a massive surge in the count of teenagers approaching them for help.
Not more than 18 years old, this SUV-driving crowd of cash-rich youngsters are hooked to drugslike cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, ketamine and LSD, say rehab in-charges noting how it’s no longer alcohol that’s doing them in these days. And that’s evident from the startling figures recorded in their registers. If until recently, 80 of the 100 inmates in any de-addiction centre were victims of alcohol, now their numbers have dropped to just about 20. The rest are `dope-heads’ suffering from an overdose of designer/party drugs, they confirm. And what seems to be making matters worse, is the `cocktail drug recipes’ doing the rounds on the internet. “Now, much like mixing
drinks for a better high, revellers can also mix drugs for a better `kick’ by looking up on the web. This has in fact garnered most interest among addicts,” said a youngster from the city familiar with this trend.
Predictably, these inventions’ have increased the intake of drugs among youngsters significantly. Said Manohar Prasad, director of Shangrila rehabilitation centre, Rajendranagar, “Though these kids take them out of sheer curiosity the first few times, they get hooked to these drugs even before they realize.” And what follows is a phase of horrific complications with many damaging their neurological system and losing all control over themselves.
Take for instance a 21-year-old addict currently recuperating at a city rehab. In a state of complete paranoia now, the youngster traces his journey to the centre which started off with an alcohol and cigarette addiction. “I also did marijuana. But the high I was getting from all this was not satisfactory. So I started mixing drugs that I either snorted or injected.”
Apart from young men, teenage girls too are falling in this `hallucinating’ trap. “Previously, not many women were seen even consuming alcohol. But it’s no longer the same now,” said Rahul Luther, executive director, Hope Trust India. Analysing this trend, he said his rehab alone comprises 20 per cent females at present. And then there are foreign nationals too from places such as Oman, USA and UK who end up in these homes, thanks to party drugs.
With the number of addicts on the rise, even rehab centres have started to mushroom in the city with at least 10 such homes coming up in various parts of Hyderabad over the last two years alone. And if sources are to be believed, there are many more on their way.
Not more than 18 years old, this SUV-driving crowd of cash-rich youngsters are hooked to drugslike cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, ketamine and LSD, say rehab in-charges noting how it’s no longer alcohol that’s doing them in these days. And that’s evident from the startling figures recorded in their registers. If until recently, 80 of the 100 inmates in any de-addiction centre were victims of alcohol, now their numbers have dropped to just about 20. The rest are `dope-heads’ suffering from an overdose of designer/party drugs, they confirm. And what seems to be making matters worse, is the `cocktail drug recipes’ doing the rounds on the internet. “Now, much like mixing
drinks for a better high, revellers can also mix drugs for a better `kick’ by looking up on the web. This has in fact garnered most interest among addicts,” said a youngster from the city familiar with this trend.
Predictably, these inventions’ have increased the intake of drugs among youngsters significantly. Said Manohar Prasad, director of Shangrila rehabilitation centre, Rajendranagar, “Though these kids take them out of sheer curiosity the first few times, they get hooked to these drugs even before they realize.” And what follows is a phase of horrific complications with many damaging their neurological system and losing all control over themselves.
Take for instance a 21-year-old addict currently recuperating at a city rehab. In a state of complete paranoia now, the youngster traces his journey to the centre which started off with an alcohol and cigarette addiction. “I also did marijuana. But the high I was getting from all this was not satisfactory. So I started mixing drugs that I either snorted or injected.”
Apart from young men, teenage girls too are falling in this `hallucinating’ trap. “Previously, not many women were seen even consuming alcohol. But it’s no longer the same now,” said Rahul Luther, executive director, Hope Trust India. Analysing this trend, he said his rehab alone comprises 20 per cent females at present. And then there are foreign nationals too from places such as Oman, USA and UK who end up in these homes, thanks to party drugs.
With the number of addicts on the rise, even rehab centres have started to mushroom in the city with at least 10 such homes coming up in various parts of Hyderabad over the last two years alone. And if sources are to be believed, there are many more on their way.
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