6 months ago
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The upcoming circular of the Union government’s National Drug Use Survey (NDUS) volition beryllium conducted done 2026 and is expected to screen astir 20 lakh individuals crossed the state to measure the grade and patterns of substance usage and substance usage disorders astatine the State and territory levels, officials told The Hindu connected Wednesday.
For the archetypal time, the survey volition question to papers “indigenous forms of substance usage and associated socio-economic and wellness concerns”. Officials said determination are respective instances of communities successful India utilizing locally grown oregon prepared substances “with societal authorisation and ritualistic acceptance”.
They added that the question of whether specified usage is arsenic harmful arsenic modern patterns of substance usage is “worth exploring”, noting that these substances whitethorn see assorted forms of alcoholic beverages, opium, and cannabis. “Some observations suggest that specified socially sanctioned use, which has continued for centuries, does not needfully pb to addiction. This is thing that needs person examination,” an authoritative said.
The forthcoming survey volition instrumentality spot astir a decennary aft the erstwhile circular conducted successful 2017-18, which covered astir 5 lakh individuals nationwide. The 2019 study had estimated that intoxicant was the astir commonly utilized substance, with much than 15 crore users, including astir 30 lakh minors aged betwixt 10 and 17 years. This was followed by cannabis, opioids, sedatives, inhalants, cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants, and hallucinogens.
While the caller circular volition proceed to measure the prevalence and patterns of usage of these substances, the 2025-26 survey will, for the archetypal time, effort elaborate analyses of substance usage among circumstantial populations specified arsenic situation inmates, schoolhouse students and those enrolled successful colleges and different higher acquisition institutions.
The erstwhile survey had attempted akin analyses, but these were not imaginable arsenic specified populations were “not adequately covered” successful the 2019 exercise.
The upcoming circular volition besides see studies connected the feasibility of wastewater investigating to measure community-level cause use, and volition analyse emerging trends related to the usage of “new and rarer” psychoactive substances.
Highlighting the request for a much broad assessment, the authoritative website of the NDUS 2025-26 noted that “drug usage is dynamic”, adding that “patterns of cause usage whitethorn alteration rapidly”, peculiarly successful the play pursuing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey is scheduled to beryllium completed by the extremity of 2026, with findings expected to beryllium published successful 2027. Funded by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, it is being conducted by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
The illustration volition beryllium drawn done 2 methods: a household survey and a respondent-driven sampling survey. The household survey volition screen 400 districts crossed each States and Union Territories and see men and women aged 10 to 75 years, covering astir 4.4 lakh households and 17.6 lakh individuals.
In addition, respondent-driven sampling volition see astir 2.1 lakh individuals drawn from drug-dependent populations successful astir 350 districts crossed the country. Taken together, the 2 components volition effect successful a full illustration size of astir 19.7 lakh individuals.
The survey volition besides measure the interaction of interventions specified arsenic the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, which was informed by findings from the 2019 survey, and is expected to make argumentation recommendations for nationalist and State-level efforts aimed astatine reducing cause request and substance-related harm.
