The population of India has reached over 1 billion people and is rising. The country is growing at an incredible pace. Its culture, social values, demographics and economy is rapidly changing, and these stresses are having an impact on the people. Some evidence suggests that there is an increasing use of illicit drugs and reported numbers point to over 3 million drug addicts in India.
However, the World Health Organization does note that there is significant difficulty in estimating drug usage and addiction rates
in the country due to poor bureaucratic processes and census reporting.
Cannabis, heroin, opium and hashish are the most commonly used drugs in India. However, some evidence indicates that there is an increasing prevalence of methamphetamine as well. Drug addiction is a major problem for many families, communities and law enforcement. Massive numbers of addicts are left to be treated by the families as financial costs, available services and lack of appropriate care challenge the country. This is not only the case for drug addicts.
HIV is a significant issue for drug addicts in India with over 2.4 million people infected. This places India as the third-highest country in terms of rate of infection in the world. Injecting drug users making up nearly 10 percent of the affected groups. HIV positive drug users are often violently attacked, discriminated against, rejected by families and communities. Some HIV positive people hide their status due to fears and anxieties about being denied medical care, housing or jobs and this places others at risk. The increasing rate of HIV that spread throughout all communities of India alarmed the government who began on a policy of harm reduction which included needle exchange programs and maintenance therapy.