CHANDIGARH: The Bhagwant Mann Government, through the School Nashean Virudh curriculum, is working to prevent substance abuse among youth by challenging and dismantling such beliefs. This evidence-based curriculum, developed in collaboration with CEGA, University of California, Berkeley, and J-PAL, a research organisation co-founded by Nobel Prize laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, addresses how young people may underestimate the addictive nature of opioids, increasing their likelihood of experimentation and, consequently, addiction.
The curriculum identifies several key misconceptions that need to be addressed among youngsters. The first, and perhaps the most dangerous, is the belief that trying chitta or heroin once or a few times will not lead to addiction. In fact, heroin is highly addictive, and even a single use can carry a risk of addiction.
The third misconception is that going to rehab necessarily means that a person will be permanently cured. Recovery can be a long-term process, and relapse can occur. The message, therefore, is not that treatment is futile, but that recovery requires sustained effort and support rather than being viewed as a one-time event. Prevention, therefore, remains better than cure.
Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh said, “At its core, the Yudh Nashean Virudh campaign is seeking to change the conversation around drug abuse—from one that begins only after addiction has taken hold to one that begins when a youngster first hears: ‘Try it once; nothing will happen.’ The objective is fairly simple: break the myth before the myth becomes a habit, and stop experimentation before it becomes dependence.”
