STRESSED-OUT STUDENTS SCORE HIGH ON DRUGS

MUMBAI: Kartik knows a beggar at a suburban railway station who "gets
'things' cheap". The 15-year-old from a middle class family is addicted to
anything that relaxes him.

"It could be grass, heroin, marijuana.. anything," he says. Kartik says his
friends from his coaching class are also hooked on to drugs.

"We have to study so much-I'm constantly worried about whether I will be
able to score well in my exams. What will my parents say if I don't?" he
says anxiously.

Kartik regrets getting into the drug habit but says he was exhausted with
the college coaching-class-and-home routine where the conversation only
revolved around how he needed to study much more to get into medical college.

While reports of stressed-out students attempting suicide have routinely
hit newspaper headlines, a rapid check with city counsellors reveals that
cases of depressed teenagers seeking "quick relief " also abound.

"While poor time management and peer pressure are responsible for this
disturbing trend, parental pressure has contributed immensely to the
problem," says psychiatrist Nirmala Rao.

Thus, from popping anti-anxiety tablets such as Valium and Alprazolam to
getting addicted to sleeping pills and cough syrup, students are
increasingly taking recourse to relaxants to handle stress, say therapists.
A 16-year-old Mulund resident who takes a dose of heroin for "relief and a
cool kick" reveals that he has been addicted to it for almost two years.

"There is too much pressure to perform well. Everybody seems to be
monitoring my marks. I am always worried about what people will say if I
don't get a good percentage," he says. But popping Ecstasy tablets and
smoking grass has not helped him.

"I feel relieved, numb and relaxed temporarily," he adds. "But I couldn't
clear my standard XI examination." Seventeen-year-old Rajesh, whose mother
refused to let him take up arts in college as wanted an engineer son,
almost took to drugs when he was unable to handle the "unbearable stress"
of dipping grades unending arguments at home.

Fortunately, he says, better sense prevailed, but he is undergoing therapy
instead. The easy availability stress-busting 'quick fixes' prime reason
for their popularity among the young.

"You anti-anxiety pills across counter at any medical store. And you just
need to network bit for drugs," says Kartik as rattles off the rates of
different drugs-in the vicinity of Rs to Rs 30, cheaper if bought bulk, and
even cheaper bought from beggars.

"Although it's an expensive addiction, manage by taking money from my
parents, telling them it's a friend's birthday gift or eating out," he says.

Counsellors point out that city like Mumbai,which doesn't give anyone time
to de-stress, more harsh on students. , "Commuting, college and classes
take up a lot of time," says Dr Harish Shetty of Sevadhan Deaddiction
Centre. "Bored teenagers need a 'kick', and a quick fix what they look at,
many them turning to sleeping pills."

( Names of teenagers have been changed to protect their identities )