Drug abuse among women in Punjab

Drug abuse among women in Punjab is rapidly increasing. Most of them are traumatized by domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse, incest, low self-esteem or depression.

Drug abuse in documentaries has been shown among men only and that’s half truth. The spread of the problem to women has not been focused upon quite as much. Hermitage, a rehab especially for women in Amritsar reported increasing incidence of drug abuse by women, it’s slowly coming out. And as with other problems affecting women, it’s layered over with stigma and denial. A rehab centre for women in Amritsar was built and found that the number of women drug addicts is rising more alarmingly when compared to men. They come from all sections of society: rich and poor, educated and uneducated, first generation drug abusers as well as second, liberal as well as conservative family backgrounds. They fall into 18-40 age group.

Many of them abuse multiple drugs. At one rehab, one patient, a 26-year-old woman, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, also a former drug user checked in seven months pregnant. She had been abusing drugs for a long time; she was abusing heroin, alcohol and Tramadol tablets to which she had added opium as well in the last two years. Her family brought her in only when they realized that her behavior might endanger the baby. She was abusing multiple drugs. She gets violent when she feels the pull and goes on to punch her stomach. At that point of time, she is not in a position to understand that she is killing her own baby. Her family got her admitted here as they were determined not to lose the baby.

In many cases, drug abuse is detected in women only when they are admitted due to various health complications. In some cases, they have to be confronted with medical reports indicating drug abuse to get them to admit to doing drugs. At least three to four women come to rehab daily. Most of them are traumatized by domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse, incest, low self-esteem or depression. Two big reasons behind a women’s drug addiction in Punjab as reported by rehab psychiatrist are low-self esteem and upward mobility. The women and girls want to become fashionable and want to show that they are open.

The simplest way to reach out to the rich and influential is to join the parties where hookahs, liquor and drugs are served openly. The women start with a cigarette or a small peg of wine or liquor. The habit later transcends and they become drug addicts or hardcore alcoholics. There are instances of boyfriends getting them hooked to drugs, sexually abusing them and abandoning them. One girl confessed of being in love with a boy and her boyfriend introduced her to alcohol, weed and finally heroin, which is easily available everywhere in Punjab. She got used to the combination and continued that way for nearly three years before showing up at the hospital for other health issues.

Though there is no figure for the exact number of women drug addicts in Punjab, doctors say it would easily run into several thousands. The problem lies undetected, the official says, because of women’s need for privacy to confess to drug addiction and have it treated. Punjab, for instance, has 31 government de-addiction centres but not many women approach them as they do not afford privacy. Many drug addicts disclosed that they have been to government clinics but there is no privacy there and men there used to stare at them. One has to wait for hours to meet the doctor and after all that they stopped going.