title: Profile of heroin addicts in Nagaland, India.
abstract: A total of 395 drug addicts from Nagaland, India during 1992-1993 were studied. Of these, 331 (83.8%) were primary abusers of heroin. Mean age of the group was 21.8 years +/- SD 3.84. Of these 5.2% were females. The majority were unmarried (92.1%) and 52% had completed 10 years of schooling. Drug-related school dropout rate was 72.8%. Unemployment was predominant (90.3%) in the group, of which most were never employed. Christianity was the main religion (90.9%) of the group. The mean age at first use of heroin was 17.6 years +/- SD 3.68. The mean duration of dependence on heroin was 4.4 years +/- SD 2.8. Heroin was injected by 80.9% subjects. Friends were the main source of introduction. Concurrent use of tranquilizers and codeine containing cough syrups was prevalent in the event of a short supply of heroin. The involvement of young, unemployed, unmarried persons in heroin addiction; widespread prevalence of the injection route and needle sharing; chronicity of heroin dependence; paucity of specialized treatment avenues and proximity to the Golden Triangle facilitating illicit traffic, have contributed to emergence of heroin addiction as a major public health problem in Nagaland.
authors.affiliation: Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh, Assam, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Wairagkar
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mahanta
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Satyanarayana
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chetial
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Phukan
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Goswami
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male