Drug abuse in a farm community; a brief appraisal of a research work

This project was initiated in the rural areas of the Punjab to assess the prevailing trends in the abuse of intoxicating drugs by rural folk, with a view to contributing to future primary mental health care planning as an integral part of comprehensive health care planning. Twenty-four villages were selected from six community development blocks in the three bordering districts of the Punjab. In the rural population, the abuse of intoxicating drugs is mainly confined to alcohol, tobacco, opium and cannabis. Among psychosocial correlates, religion was of obvious predominance. Since Sikh are non-smokers, tobacco abuse was much less among them; but they had maximum alcohol ;and opium abuse. The structure of the family and number of family members tend to move together in their association with drug abuse. In relation to income in general, drug abuse was more common at the two ends of economic scale-the richest and the poorest. Social perception of drug abuse has highlighted the fact that in villages it has still not become an illicit or underground activity. The findings suggest a number of measures for promoting future primary mental health care among rural fold of the country.