India's first drug De Addiction centre for ladies in Punjab

Once considered a male-only problem, the epidemic of drug addiction has now gripped Punjab’s women too.

With cracked lips and shrivelled bodies, they are showing up in droves at the de-addiction centres.

Those who once fought for the lives of their husbands and brothers are now fighting for themselves. Whether in colleges, universities, or homes - women are using hard drugs openly.

Punjab’s first de-addiction centre exclusively for women opened this year in Amritsar. The centre is the brainchild of Amritsar-based psychiatrist Dr Jagdeep Pal Bhatia, who has been running a similar facility for men over the past two decades.

Bhatia says most women who come to the centre are between 18 and 40 years of age. They have often been traumatised by acts of incest, domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse, sex addiction and low self-esteem.

Once considered a male-only problem, the epidemic of drug addiction has now gripped Punjab’s women too

The development comes amid a swirling political tussle in the poll-bound state over the film Udta Punjab, based on the state’s drug menace, which has run into trouble with the Censor Board.

“Two big reasons behind a women's drug addiction in Punjab 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,” Bhatia said.

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Source :ABP SANJHA 

“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.”