Alarming Signals Of Drug Addiction Among The Southern Youths In Bangladesh: A Survey Based Research

ABSTRACT

Background:Drug addictionisaseriouspublichealthcrisiswhichaffects almosteverysphereinacommunity inawayoranotherandthisinturncanpossibly leadto socialdisharmony,severecrimes,degradedsocialstatusandmostpossibly physicalandmental healthdeterioration.Thesolepurposeofourstudy wasaimedtoanalyzethecurrentawful situationofdrug addictionatfourdifferentsoutherncitiesofBangladesh.Methods:Thiscross sec-tionalhealthbasedsurvey wascarriedoutwithaself-designedstandardquestionnaireby manualdatacollectionover anine monthsperiod (12.09.2015to10.04.2016) atfour adjacent cities oopalganj, Khulna, Bagerhat andNarailrespectively. Total 300substanceabuserswere investigatedby majorlyvisitingattheirhomeandsometimesvisiting theplaceswherethey usually takedrugs.Descriptivestatisticswereappliedtothecollecteddataandanalyzedus-ing MicrosoftExcelsoftware.Results:Inthiscrosssectionalstudyweobservedthat,82%addicts arepredomi-nantlyyoungmalesmostly betweentheagesof10-30.About48%areaddictedby cannabis,19%and17%byyabaandphensedylrespectively.Incaseoffirststarting ofdruguse curiosity,surroundingenvironmentwerethepri-maryreasonandcannabisastheirfirstdrug (61%)followedbyphensedyl(16%).Atleast53%addict’srelayedonlocalitylikefriendsand 30%usedlocaldealersasamainsourcetocollecttheseabuseddrugs.Healthyfinancialsupport isveryimportantforcollectingabuseddrugsand30%addictsspendpocketmoney,23%job, 20%busi-nesssourcetobuythesecostlysubstances.Althoughitisimportanttomentionthat 61%addictsarecompro-mising eitherphysicalorpsychologicalcomplicationsbutitisoneof goodsymptomstoobservethatmorethan60%ofdrugaddictsaretrying togiveupaddiction formingagentsin thesedays. Conclusion: In recent yearsdrugaddictionhassignificantly increasedinthewholeworldespecially inSouthAsiancountries.Itmustbeemphasizedasan alarmingsignby thegovernmentaswellasawarenessamongthepeoplesarevery essentialto stop this criti-cal condition from affectingour futureyoungleaders