Tobacco and alcohol followed by cannabis and inhalants, sedatives, heroin and opium are the most common items of substance abuse among children on streets, according to a study by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
Some of the findings of the study were that over 50 percent children living on streets reported bad or very bad relationship or no relationship with the family.
The percentage of inhalant users (lifetime, last one year and last one month) was higher in the children living on streets than in children living at home and the lifetime and last one year usage of opium was higher in the children living on streets than in children living at home.
The study "Assessment of pattern, profile and correlates of substance use among children in India" conducted through the National Dependent Treatment Centre at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, covered 135 sites across 27 states and two Union Territories with a sample size of 4,024 children.
The facts of the study were given in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Friday by Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.
She said her ministry is about to implement a centrally-sponsored scheme, namely Integrated Child Protection Scheme from 2009-10 for children in difficult circumstances, including children who are victims of substance abuse.
