According to information from PGI’s deaddiction centre, around 500 new patients come every year. Add to it, the more than 5,000 patients who are already treated for addiction. Doctors says the number of such cases is consistently increasing by around 10 per cent a year.

As many as 40 per cent of the total cases at the PGI’s Centre are related to addiction to opiads, including opium, smacks, heroin, injectibles, synthetics and tablets.

“The rise in opiad addicts has been increasing over the years though it would be fallacious to quantify this increase. Earlier, heroin was more in use now we see cases of smack being reporetd more,” says Dr S K Mattoo of the PGI de-addiction centre.

While patients of all age groups and economic status are victims of drug abuse, substance abuse is fairly common among teenagers and young adults below 25 years of age. Common inhalant abuse includes white ink, petrol fumes and iodex. “We see around 30 cases of inhalant abuse a year and the number is increasing,” say doctors at the Centre.

What has been a constant, though, is the number of alcohol addiction cases in the region.

“Easily, around 40 per cent of the total patients at the Centre are addicted to alcohol. This means that the bulk of the patients attribute their addiction to liquor. The acceptance of alcohol in the society in this particular region partly explains the high level of addiction,” says Dr Mattoo.

While the number of new cases is worrying, equally disturbing is the fact that the majority of those who come for treatment rarely come back to for follow-ups. Doctors say it takes consistent follow-ups for two years to fairly free a patient from addiction.