The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has released a Joint Action Plan on the Prevention of Drug and Substance Abuse among Children and Illicit Trafficking”. The Action Plan has been released in association with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Key Points
- The panel has proposed that the basis of affiliation to boards like CBSE or ICSE should be decided on whether the schools have included curriculum related to drug abuse by NCERT, prevented alcohol and tobacco shops near the premises, installed CCTV cameras at drug stores, and set up of prahari clubs” to empower children to monitor substance abuse in their schools and communities.
- This plan has been made to keep children away from drug abuse and to stop the sale of drugs near schools, educational and childcare institutions.
- The plan also suggests strategic interventions” to restrict the reach of pharmaceutical drugs and such products used by children as intoxicants.
Study on Drug Use by Children
- As per a study conducted by NCPCR with the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, the most commonly used substances by children are tobacco and alcohol. These are followed by inhalants and cannabis.
- As per the study, the mean age of onset of substance abuse for tobacco is 12.3 years, which is the lowest.
- The mean age of inhalants is 12.4 years, cannabis is 13.4 years and alcohol is 13.6 years.
- Harder substances used by children are pharmaceutical opioids, opium, and heroin. The mean age for such hard substances is between 14.3-14.9 years and that for injecting substances is 15.1 years.
- A study by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights found that all children in conflict with the law were into drug abuse. Also, 95.5 percent of children at child care institutions and 93 percent of street children are into drug abuse.
- As per a study by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, 4.6 lakh children in the country were addicted to inhalants in the year 2019.
- The five states with the highest prevalence of inhalant abuse among children were Haryana (35,000 children), Delhi (38,000 children), Maharashtra (40,000 children), Madhya Pradesh (50,000 children), and Uttar Pradesh (94,000 children).
Other Points
The action plan puts forward that Prahari Clubs” must be set up in schools in association with Gandhi Smriti Darshan Samiti. In these clubs, children will be able to discuss issues related to drug abuse and become monitors of the abuse. It also mandates the installation of CCTV cameras in schools and drug stores selling drugs made from psychotropic substances. A separate register should be maintained for the records of selling H, H1, and X schedule drugs.
In the first phase, CCTV cameras will be installed in pharmacies in 272 most vulnerable districts.