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Drugs and Your Child
By Dr Khomdon Singh Lisam
Mankind has used drugs since the earliest times, mainly to relieve pain or for ritual purposes. Over the past century, however, this use has degenerated into abuse, dependence and crime. In this age, illicit drug production, trafficking and consumption has spread at an epidemic proportion and reached every part of the globe. Today, 141 million people in the world are using cannabis (1997- World Drug Report), 30 million Amphetamine Type Stimulants/ ATS, 13 million using Cocaine. Eight million use Heroin.
Today, no nation is immune to the devastating problems caused by drug abuse on the user, the family, the community and society at large. People are enslaved by their dependence on drugs and prevented from participating fully in society, drug abuse and trafficking lead to the spreading of violence, increased criminality and economic dislocation. There is so much publicity about drugs these days that parents have become increasingly worried, most because they fear that their own children may become involved. Many parents feel now that they want to learn as much about drugs as possible so that they can make informed and sensible comments to their children when questions are raised.
Do you know enough about drugs?
Most parents are not well-informed about the effect of various drugs: there is a lot of confusing and inaccurate information around. Having reliable information will help you understand the subject and build your own confidence in talking about drugs with your child. Ultimately, however, the soundness of your family relationships will be more important that a sound knowledge of drugs.
There are no hard or soft drugs, no good or bad drugs.
It all depends what people do with them and the circumstances under which drugs are used. Morphine is prescribed for cancer patients in pain without them getting 'hooked' on the drug. By contrast, one LSD trip might lead to psychological damage to somebody with latent mental illness.
The availability of drugs:
If your child wants to take drugs illegally, it is likely that they will eventually find somebody who can supply them. The efforts of the police, customs, and narcotic control authority will never be able to completely stop illegal drugs coming into the country and into Manipur. However, the image of pushers hanging around school playgrounds waiting to give children samples is essentially wrong.
Your children will have far less trouble obtaining legal drugs and solvents like cough syrup, glue and butane gas.
Of those young people who try illegal drugs, most obtain them from friends. As a rule, experimentation with drugs such as heroin, opium, cannabis does not start until mid-late teens. Even then, very few in this age range will have access to heroin, crack or cocaine. The majority of regular drug users are in their twenties. What drugs are available in any given area will vary according to price, fashion, geographical location, etc.
Do you know what is Heroin?
Opium is the coagulated juice from the capsule of the poppy plant. (Papaver Somniferum). Opium is the earliest and the most valuable drug known to mankind...
History is replete with many stories concerning the use of opium. Morphine is the main alkaloid of opium, isolated early in the nineteenth century. Within fifty years, it had supplanted opium as the chief instrument of opium abuse. The name morphine comes from the word "Morpheus" the God of sleep, who has been commonly represented as a fat, winged child bearing a vase in one hand and a bunch of poppies in the other. Today morphine addiction has greatly declined solely because
of its replacement by heroin.
Heroin is a powerful drug made from opium. In 1874, a new compound Diacetyle morphine was first synthesized from morphine. In 1898, the German Chemical firm of Friedfich Bayer and Company named the new compound as heroin.
Heroin is produced when morphine is treated with acetylene an- hydride, a widely used industrial chemical used in the production of rayon, photographic film, synthetic glass, aircraft varnishes, coloring matter, pharmaceutical products and plastics which are readily available in India. India has the capacity to produce 95,000 metric tones of acetic anhydride every year. To produce heroin, the chemist takes an equal amount of morphine and acetic anhydride and heats them together at 185 degrees. The morphine and acid becomes chemically bonded. The chemist then attempts to remove the impurities from the compound by treating it with water and chloroform, leaving a slightly higher grade of acetyl morphine. The solution is next drained to another container and sodium carbonate is added.
The resulting heroin particles are then filtered out of the solution under pressure. These are again purified with a solution of alcohol and activated charcoal. The mixture is then heated until the alcohol begins to evaporate, leaving a relatively pure from of heroin at the bottom of the container.
Heroin is 5 to 10 times more potent than morphine. The slang terms used for heroin are many - No-4, Smack, Brown Sugar, Big-H, Stuff, Thing, Horse, Tank, Junk etc. Its use produces pleasant feelings and relieves pain. Because of its chemical nature, heroin has the greatest possibility of causing addiction among the narcotic drugs. It is mostly available through illegal markets and is sold as a white or brown powder with a bitter taste.
How is heroin used?
In Manipur heroin is typically smoked, inhaled, sniffed or injected. Smoking is often the first method used.
What are the effects of heroin on the body?
In small quantity, heroin quickly affects the body by reducing the sensation of pain, lowering blood pressure and decreasing the rate of breathing. It also causes lack of attention to details and creates a sleepy feeling. The user may go "on the nod" alternatively feeling awake then drowsy. Stomach upset also happens with less desire to eat. An urge to vomit and constipation.
Attention to details is further decreased. Breathing and heart rates become slower, blood pressure is lowered and pupils become smaller. The person may go to sleep. If larger amounts of heroin are taken with other drugs having similar effects, life is threatened from overdose. Signs of overdose include very small pupils of the eye, weak and uneven breathing, no response to pain and cold wet skin.
With regular heroin use, the general state of health often becomes worse. This is due to lack of nutrition, less attention to personal cleanliness and exposure to other diseases such as TB, Malaria, and Typhoid. Serious injuries may occur through lack of judgment while driving a motor vehicle or working around fire. Health problems may also come from the harmful material which is often mixed with heroin. These materials include hair removing powder, baby powder, quinine or other drugs for sleeping. Mixture with barbiturates is especially life threatening because convulsions and coma may occur when user of that drug is suddenly stopped.
What are the harmful effects of drug abuse?
1. Overdose deaths; 2. Acute pulmonary oedema; 3. Acute cardiac arrhythmia; 4. Endocarditis; 5. HlV infection; AIDS, Hepatitis-C, Syphilis; 6. Tetanus; 7. Malaria; 8. Neurological complications; 9. Renal dysfunction; 10. Cellulitis, Septicaemia. Embolism, Gangrene etc.
Heroin injected into a vein reaches the brain in a mere seven or eight seconds and because of its chemical structure, penetrates into the brain even faster than. morphine, which is probably why most addicts in Manipur choose heroin. Once heroin reaches the brain, it quickly binds to the opiate receptors that are found in many brain regions. Activation of the opiate receptors in the pleasure circuit causes intense euphoria, called a rush. This rush lasts only briefly but is followed by a couple of hours of a relaxed, contented state. (Drugs and the brain page 8, 1993).
Is Heroin addictive?
Heroin is highly addictive. Two or three doses of smoking each day for three or four days may lead to a tolerance for heroin. This means that larger amounts of heroin must be used to get the same effect When tolerance has developed, the person feels sick after they stopped using heroin. "This "withdrawal" is another sign of addiction. It begins 8-12 hours after using heroin. The severity of sickness depends upon the quantity of heroin which has been regularly used. Withdrawal is not usually life threatening but does cause discomfort. It starts with a running nose, hot and cold sweating, restless sleep, wide pupils, lack of desire to eat and uneasiness and mind.
There may be sneezing, stuffed nose, running of eyes, an urge to vomit and diarrhea. In severe withdrawal, the person may have stomach cramps, jerking muscles, pain throughout the body and sweating. These signs are usually worst between 48-72 hours after the last use of heroin. Recovery from withdrawal without the use of other drugs, usually takes one week. However return to normal sleep pattern may take a longer time.
Can I prevent my child from using drugs?
Telling scary stories and forbidding of drugs are not the solutions. Positive approaches are better. Discuss issues in a friendly manner and answer questions truthfully. Sometimes your children will know more about drugs than you. Encourage them to share their problems with you from an early age. Is it better not to mention drugs and so avoid arousing interest?
Children learn about drugs from television, the press, the, radio and friends... Be prepared to discuss drugs whenever someone in the family is concerned about the issue.
Should tobacco and ordinary drugs such as aspirin be included in a discussion on drugs?
Yes. Everything from aspirin to heroin that alters any one or more of the body's function is a drug. Your child will disregard any advice you have to give if you deny that commonly-used drugs e.g. tobacco causes real harm. In any discussion, it is commonly used drugs that should be stressed. Remember that the individual drugs are not as important as the reasons why people take them.
Why people use drugs?
Because they like what the drug does to their brain. Drugs modify mood, perception and psychological state. This occurs through the process of altering the brain. Prolonged drug use changes the brain in fundamental and long-lasting ways. These long-lasting brain changes are a major component of addiction. It is as though there were a switch in the brain that flips at some point during an individual's drug use.
There are many reasons for using drugs. Like older people, young people often feel the need to be like their friends; it may mean following the latest fashion. Whether it is in dress, music or driving or drugs taking. For some young people who have problems such as insecurity or loneliness, stemming from reasons like strained relationship between parents, drugs may seem to be the answer. It is these young people who are the most likely to use drugs regularly.
What do drugs do?
Drugs vary enormously in their effects upon individuals. Most people including adults use drugs to enhance feelings of pleasure and relaxation. There are many different kinds of mood altering drugs available in our society, which when used correctly are helpful and beneficial. Drugs cause problems when they are misused or abused. These problems can be physical, mental or social depending on the danger and the amount of the drug being used, the period of use and many other factors.
How can parents tell if their child is using drugs?
It is difficult even for professionals to tell. The effects of drugs vary considerably from drug to drug and even from person to person. If your child has a drug problem, some behavior changes like will become apparent:-
* Change in attention span, ability to concentrate....
*Social withdrawal/increased isolation from others...
* Change in the type of friends
* Change in sleep pattern
* Sudden increase in weight
Behavior changes are normal in adolescents but if unusual behavior persists for sometime, there could be a problem. Of course, it usually is not a drug problem-other problems deserve your attention too. These days everybody reacts to the word drugs so it is to surprising that some people use drugs to signal their need for help.
Do not become an amateur detective and search for signs. This is likely to damage any trusting relationship you may have with your child. Does parents’ behavior have any effect on the children? Of course, there is evidence to show that children who get into trouble with drugs tend to come from families where drugs such as tobacco, alcohol and tranquillizers are frequently used. Children can also learn by observation that life can be enjoyed without drugs.
Can Heroin Addiction be successfully treated?
Yes. Heroin addiction can be treated with the possibility of complete recovery. Effective treatment requires a series of the steps, beginning with physical recovery from withdrawal and assessment of other physical, emotional, social, family and income generating activities, which may have developed through addiction. Successful treatment also requires a desire to stop using drugs and to cooperate with the treatment process, sorting out the problems which are most important and seeking help to solve them. Sources of help may include drug rehabilitation professional and family members. Extended support and after care is also needed to maintain the gains which have been
achieved in treatment that kind of support comes from other people who share a commitment to drug-free behavior, and a life full of physical, emotional and spiritual health.
What can a parent do if drug use is occurring?
Do not panic. Your child may be experimenting and give the drug away after trying it out. If the youngster is regularly using drugs to satisfy a need, professional help may be required. Let the child know that you are really concerned and want to help. At all costs, try to remain calm. Do not suppress information by not even disclosing it to doctors or social workers. It always helps to ask for outside advice and help.
Prevention is better than cure:
It is normal for children to experiment with available drugs. However, children who come from families where parents show a warm attentive concern are less likely to be attracted to drugs. Moralizing and preaching about these issues is of course no use. If you listen to your child's point of view and are prepared to discuss each others views, your child is more likely to respect your perspectives and accept your advice an all areas including drugs.
[The writer is Project Director, Manipur AIDS Control Society]
***This feature in connection with the International Day Against Illegal Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse, June 26, 2002.
(Courtesy: The Imphal Free Press)
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