Curiosity propelling youth to take up drugs, says former junkie turned rehab founder

Nikhil was a former junkie who was active in the scene for a decade before quitting it and opening his doors for helping others come out of it.

Life was normal for the former drug addict till the age of 14.

"I was in standard seven when I lit the first cigarette," Nikhil says, "slowly I started consuming alcohol and as days passed took up narcotics."

Life went pear-shaped for him very soon enough.

"I received a lot of hate...slowly my confidence started draining out as the dependency (on drugs) increased," he says.

Today he is a changed man who focuses on helping out other addicts through his foundation.

Sharing his experience, Nikhil tells IBNS: "I was introduced to marijuana by a school friend and slowly started exploring the other varieties."

"Coming from Himachal, it was pretty easy for me to get access to these drugs. The security in these hilly region was less and with ample rave parties happening, I always scored big," he adds.

Reflecting on the torrid time he had overcome, Nikhil says that the dependency on drugs also forced him to lie every now and then.

"I started to lie frequently in order to get cash from my parents and when that fell short, I started selling drugs."

Asked if he was ever afraid of getting caught, he says smiling, "When you start doing drugs that's the one thing you cast away. You live inhibition free. The drugs don't let you feel scared," however he adds, " When i think of it today, I shudder. It was indeed risky what I did those days."

Decoding the intake of drugs, he says, "Most people do it out of curiosity. I have studied so many cases and from that I can confidently says that 99 percent of the addicts have taken up drugs because they wanted to cross check with what the others tell them."

"The other factor, ' he adds, "is these youths trying to look cool."

The former junkie also has a message for addicts. He wants them "to stay away from rave parties."

"That is where you get these drugs. Talk about LSD, Smack, Ganja...they are all party drugs. If you have to take them you need to go to a party catering these."

So when did the realisation hit him?

"I was slowly losing out on studies. But one day I wanted to do some research. I just wanted to be sure that whatever I was taking was the real thing...that's when i realised that I was duped."

He says that he was taking mephedrone instead of cocaine.

Mephedrone is a popular drug in and around Delhi.

To the naked eye, mephedrone looks just like cocaine, however a trained professional or a regular user will know the difference.

It's a cheap substitute of cocaine that can get you high, but has twice the health hazard.

In 2014, about 410kg of mephedrone was seized by the Delhi Police.

A common variant of  mephedrone in India is Meow Meow.

"In 2015-16, 57kg of Meow Meow was seized by NCB's Delhi zone, compared to 3kg in 2014-15," says a report according to Mail Today.

A gram of Meow Meow costs Rs 5,000-15,000 in India and is generally supplied in parties in small pouches.   {image_1}

"It can be very dangerous. I slowly started encountering the side-effects," he says.

After a brief contemplation, he decided to ditch it but as he found out it was more difficult that he had imagined.

"I left one substance and got addicted to another and this went on for a while," says, "Slowly things went so bad that I had to leave everything. Life had become a total mess for me."

However, after his habits got his engaged in repetitive brawls with his family members, he was admitted to a de-addiction centre.

"That is where I got a break," he says smiling. "I slowly started reading books and did a bit of research about addiction and its harmful effects."

"It took me a decade to realise that all this was bad. I realised it a bit too late... after losing almost everything in life," he states.

But he is clean now for about two years and plans to continue the work he is doing.

Speaking about the ill effects of drugs, Nikhil Kapoor, Marketing Consultant, Floodlightz Media Solution, who's partnering with the foundation, says, "In recent years we have been experience an alarming increase of Drug abuse among youngster. Initially youngster tried it under the curiosity of getting happy high, which later become usual to them and at one stage its a daily need for them."

He adds, "Many spoil their precious time in drugs rather then focusing on academics, which either makes them unemployed or good for nothing. Later even after getting treated in several de- addiction center they again get into drugs due to nonacceptance of society. We have to cater it as a disease and have to cut the roots which push them towards drugs."

Urging the government to take more precaution, Kapoor says, "Govt should run such initiative where the one who get treated should get enroll with institute working under skill development programs, It training and other such programs. Which not only give them a new vision of life but also help them to empower other addicts."

Recovery Foundation started in Oct 2016.

They have treated 100 people by June 2017.

Common methods include counselling and group discussion.

About relapsing: Recovering patients can get back to addiction as it is a relapsing process, but they learn from their mistakes.

The foundation is aiming at creating job opportunities for addicts.

"If they have a job, chances are they will not get back to addiction as they will be busy with it," says Nikhil

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIIQZKPbDGI&t=3s

(Reporting by Sudipto Maity)