Women and intoxication

The scenario in India as far women addiction is concerned is changing very fast. Consumption of intoxicating stuff is no more considered a man oriented affair with increasing number of women in the list. There is no denying that it was the women who used to consume different intoxicating items came from two different sections of the society, either very poor who drink, or smoke as it has become the way of their way of life. On the other hand, very rich women from upper class of society who do it for fun, imitating others, status symbol or the pressures they face coming in their daily routine. 

Now, with the meddle class women who drink for entirely different reasons, joining in the scene has given a new dimension to the problem which clearly indicates that intoxicating has now widely spread among Indian women. The United Nations drug controllers conduct various surveys in different countries under their programs known as UNDCP or United Nations Drug Control Programs have also revealed that women are now as addicted or consumers of different intoxicating items in India as their male counter parts are. The survey that was conducted in different big cities clearly indicated that young women of our country are no more hesitant in use of intoxicating substances and even having sexual relations after consumption of such items. 

Drugs are Status symbol

It could sound funny but it is true. One of the main reasons behind women consuming intoxicating stuff could be their loneliness, as most such women who used wine and drugs were living alone or were divorcee. And there is another very interesting factor behind women using drug or wine was mainly for enjoyment and to mix up with upper class society without any other reasons as very few consume these items for stress reliving purpose. The women do not find much hesitation anymore going for wine or other intoxicating stuff including Opium, Cannabis or Marijuana and their by products which are more dangerous and addictive, as they used to feel couple of decades back. Intoxication in women is more common now since it has become a status symbol in urban society and spreading rapidly towards towns and villages, more women are finding their shelter in drugs and wine for the sake of fun or as stress relieving measure. 

Experts’ Opinion

Most experts on drugs and Psychiatrists or rehabilitation physicians think that the joyful kicks or fascinating smell of smack or opium are not the only reasons which attract women to use them but there are many other drugs mostly prescribed by doctors for stress reliving purpose are also in the list. There are certain commonly available drugs on doctors’ prescription but most medical stores provide them on demand against the rules unlawfully. Most such drugs from Diazepam or Benzodiazepine, which were discovered accidentally but later used as stress relievers, are presently consumed for enjoyment or replacement for intoxicants. Medicines such as Alprex, Calmpose, Valium, Trika, and Alzolam available in different potency are addictive and available in most stores openly which cause lot of harm to users but they take these for the sake of fun and kicks these provide.

Why woman take to drugs or wine

I know this should not be proper to discuss as to why should it be gender specific and limited to women in reference to drinking or other drug consuming. Men and women have almost the same reasons behind their habits of drinking or using drugs but when it comes to quitting, men can do it easily compared to women especially if the woman is alone or her husband has no care for her. There is an example of 37 years old woman from Delhi, with two teenage children who found her escape in wine. After dispatching children to school, she would sit with her bottle. She went on with the routine unless her nerves system collapsed totally and she found her in an Alcoholics Anomic center. She had a very sad story to tell which explained her reason of addiction. She did not only use wine but tried even Cocaine to get rid of problems caused by her husband’s bad behavior. 

There is another story of an air hostess, who died after falling down from her hotel room just because her drug’s pills were finished. She was so addicted of those pills that she lost her self-control and jumped down the window in sheer disappointment. She was habitual of those pills during her working hours, while at parties or even while she was in intimate moments with her partner. She could not live without those pills for a moment and she could not stand the situation when she found that she had no pills left.

Most of the addicted women use brown sugar or painkillers, stress relievers, wine, opium or even cough syrups for ‘kicks’ but the use of drugs is area specific. Women in Manipur use painkillers, Mumbai women prefer doses of cocaine as it is related to status symbol in bigger cities. 

Health related effects 

Alcoholism or consumption of drugs by women leaves very severe impacts on their health. In fact, women face dangerous results compared to men even if they consume intoxicating contents in smaller quantities. Most women used to intoxicating stuff suffer from sleeplessness, menstrual disorders, stresses and change in life styles. General evidences suggest that the effects of alcohol on the liver are more intense for women than for men in almost all cases. The exact reasons, which cause women's increased chances to intoxicated related liver damages are unclear but the most possible reason could be the differences in body weight and fluid content between men and women. Apart from other physical problems, the woman addicted with intoxicant is at greater risk of miscarriage than a woman who does not drink or consumes such items.

Conclusion

Women suffering from alcohol or drugs addiction are generally advised to go under a proper treatment in rehabilitation centers, which are common for men and women in our country unlike western countries. However, the treatment should differ from men as women are more likely to be addicted  because of family problems and they often need a different therapy than men do. Although people have beginning to understand the need of alcohol and drugs related studies exclusively for women because there problems are different besides the discriminatory behavior with them which is the main cause of their addiction. 

Therefore, the need of facing the challenges while undertaking such researches will have to be addressed with different and more human point of view. This should not be very difficult to look at the problem with much needed sympathetic point of view since the number of women reaching out for such treatment is far below compared to men in our country. However, women addicted with drugs or drinking habits will not recover or give up as easily because they in most cases turned very stiff due to domestic violence or misbehavior.