NEW DELHI: A major school survey across 10 Indian cities has revealed that children are experimenting with drugs far earlier than expected, with the average age of initiation just 12.9 years and some starting as young as 11. The findings, published in the National Medical Journal of India this month, show that one in seven school students tried a psychoactive substance at least once.The study surveyed 5,920 students aged around 14.7 years across Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Dibrugarh and Ranchi. It found 15.1% had used a substance in their lifetime, 10.3% in the past year, and 7.2% in the past month. After tobacco (4%) and alcohol (3.8%), the most commonly used substances were opioids (2.8%), cannabis (2%) and inhalants (1.9%), with most opioid use linked to non-prescribed pharmaceutical pills.The multi-city study was led by Dr Anju Dhawan, chief of National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS Delhi, in collaboration with medical colleges in Chandigarh, Dibrugarh, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Srinagar, Imphal, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ranchi.Substance use rose sharply with age. Students in classes XI-XII were twice as likely to have used substances compared to Class VIII. Boys reported higher tobacco and cannabis use, while girls showed higher inhalant and pharmaceutical opioid use. Over half the students said they would hide drug use if asked, indicating that actual prevalence could be higher.The survey found a clear link between substance use and emotional distress: 31% of past-year users showed high psychological difficulty scores compared with 25% of non-users, with marked differences in conduct issues, hyperactivity and emotional symptoms.Against this backdrop, Dr Achal Bhagat, senior consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, says the early age of initiation is an urgent warning. He notes that easy access and unaddressed emotional distress are driving children toward substances, even as the adolescent brain remains highly vulnerable to lasting harm from inhalants, opioids and cannabis. He points to a worrying rise in substance use among girls, often linked to discreet self-medication, and urges parents to watch for mood shifts, withdrawal, falling grades and secrecy. With only 1% of young users seeking help, he calls for stronger school mental-health support and open family conversations to prevent early experimentation from hardening into addiction.Family and peer influence also played a strong role, with 40% reporting tobacco or alcohol use at home and users far more likely to have peers who consume substances. Researchers say interventions must begin much earlier – ideally before middle school – to delay first use and prevent later addiction.The authors say the findings offer the clearest picture yet of adolescent substance use in India and stress the need for urgent school-based prevention, early identification and structured support before experimentation becomes entrenched.
