The need for a drug abuse documentation center in India

The problems of alcoholism and drug addiction are major concerns in India. Alcohol and drugs were used in the past to obtain relief from pain and misery and to attain a state of forgetfulness. India is presently facing the problem of increased trafficking in drugs; heroin and hashish are supplied to the west through the subcontinent. Addiction has become a major problem in metropolitan centers. The Ministry of Welfare is responsible for drug abuse prevention programs and the rehabilitation of addicts. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is concerned with drug treatment. A deaddiction center, established at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, became operational in 1988; it is responsible for health manpower training, research, and documentation. India has witnessed an exponential growth in the literature on drug abuse; it is no longer possible for a single library to acquire all of the international literature. There is a clear need to establish a drug abuse information center in India. This paper describes the aims, objectives, and planning for such a center and recommends the establishment of a national center in New Delhi with regional centers in other geographic areas.