Drug De-addiction in Chennai
Treatment for cannabis, prescription tablet, opioid, inhalant and stimulant dependence — with the first week planned around the specific substance.
It rarely looks like the version families expect
Most parents who call us are not describing a dramatic scene. They are describing a son who stopped attending college, who sleeps through the day, whose friends have all changed, whose phone never leaves his hand, and who has slowly become somebody they do not recognise.
New Jeevan Care Centre treats drug dependence in Maduravoyal, Chennai — cannabis, prescription tablets, opioids, inhalants and stimulants. The withdrawal plan is built around the specific substance, and it runs into the full rehabilitation programme without a gap.
One request. At the assessment, tell us everything that has been used and roughly how much. Not the version he gave you. Nothing in that room is judged, and the safety of the first week depends entirely on knowing the truth.
What we treat
- Cannabis / ganjaThe most common in younger users and the most often dismissed.
- Prescription tabletsSleeping pills, anxiety medication and painkillers. These come down in slow steps — stopping them overnight is unsafe.
- OpioidsHeroin and brown sugar. Coming off these is brutal but not usually life-threatening, and it needs constant support to get through.
- InhalantsWhitener, thinner, glue, solvents. Most common in teenagers and damaging quickly.
- StimulantsIncluding tablets taken to stay awake for exams or night shifts.
- More than one at a timeVery common, and the reason every plan has to be individual.
Changes worth taking seriously
Any one of these alone can be ordinary young-adult behaviour. Several of them appearing together over a few months is a pattern, not a phase.
- College or work attendance has quietly collapsed
- The entire friend circle has been replaced
- Asleep through the day, awake all night
- Money and small valuables disappearing at home
- New secrecy about the phone, the room, where he goes
- Sudden weight loss, poor hygiene, frequent illness
- Anger where there was none, or flatness where there was interest
- Smell of solvents, burnt smell, unfamiliar foil or packets
Before you confront him — one call first
A confrontation that goes wrong can push him out of reach for months and make the next attempt far harder. We will help you plan what to say, when to say it, and which person in the family should lead it. That one conversation often decides whether he walks in or disappears.
What treatment involves
Substance-specific withdrawal
Opioid, cannabis and prescription-tablet withdrawal follow completely different timelines. The medical plan is built for what was actually used.
Individual counselling
Why it started and what it has been managing — peer pressure, anxiety, boredom, exam stress, or a circle where it was simply normal.
Group therapy
Young people respond to peers in recovery in a way they will never respond to a parent or a staff member.
Parent and sibling sessions
What changes at home, how to handle money, and how to stop unknowingly funding it.
Getting life restarted
Returning to college or work, rebuilding a routine, and building a social circle that does not revolve around using.
Six-month aftercare
Follow-up sessions and family reviews through the period when relapse risk is at its highest.
What parents ask us
He says it is only ganja and everyone does it. Is it really harmful?
Cannabis is less physically dangerous than opioids, but less dangerous is not the same as harmless. Regular use in teenagers and young adults is strongly linked to loss of motivation, falling grades, memory and concentration problems, and in some people it can trigger serious mental health episodes. Most of the young men we treat started with exactly this argument.
If we tell you what he has been using, will it reach the police?
No. Reporting people is not our job and never has been. Indian law goes further than most families realise: Section 64A of the NDPS Act grants immunity from prosecution to anyone who voluntarily comes forward for treatment of dependence at a recognised centre. That protection exists precisely so families can speak freely. Use it — the first week is only safe if we know what we are actually managing.
How is drug treatment different from alcohol treatment?
The counselling, the routine and the family work are broadly the same. What differs is the first week. Each substance has its own withdrawal pattern, so the medical plan is built around what was actually used — opioid withdrawal is severe but rarely life-threatening, while alcohol and sleeping tablets carry a seizure risk.
He is 19 and in college. Will treatment destroy his year?
Sometimes a residential stay during a semester break is possible. But protecting one semester at the cost of the next five years is a poor trade, and the honest answer is that if use is daily, or if the peer group is the main trigger, residential care is the better decision. We will tell you plainly which applies.
Everything started with a doctor's prescription. Is that still dependence?
Yes, and it is one of the most missed forms of dependence for exactly that reason — it started with a doctor's signature, so nobody in the family treats it as a drug problem. Taken beyond what was prescribed, sleeping tablets, anxiety medication and painkillers cause genuine physical dependence, and coming off them has to be done in slow steps under supervision. Bring the prescriptions and the strips with you to the assessment.
How do we search his room or check his phone without destroying trust?
Think carefully before doing either. If you find something and confront him badly, he goes underground and the next attempt gets much harder. Call us first. We would rather spend twenty minutes helping you plan the conversation than treat someone who ran six months ago.
The earlier this starts, the more there is left to save
Studies, health, work and relationships are all far easier to repair at month six than at year six. Call and describe what you are seeing at home.