Thousands of youth in Kashmir are slipping into the dark alleys of drug addiction as the valley has been flooded with a huge quantity of heroin usage.?The Jammu and Kashmir administration had said as per a consumption survey there are at least 6 lakh residents affected by drug related issues in the region.
The figures were revealed during the maiden meeting of the State Level Committee of the Narco Coordination Centre chaired by Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta. The meeting outlined broad project contours for tackling drug menace in J-K where an estimated six lakh residents are affected by drug abuse.
The officials noted that the drug menace in terms of its usage and addiction has significantly gone up in J-K during the recent years. As per the consumption survey, officials said 90% users are from the 17-33 age group.
As per the official figures, the Drug De-addiction Center at SMHS Hospital in Srinagar receives at least 150 drug addiction cases every day.
Of 150 cases, 70 cases are follow-up cases and the remaining cases are new. There are also 15 drug addiction cases among teenagers.
According to the officials, 95 percent of cases are heroin abusers.
A survey carried by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of AIIMS on the magnitude of substance use in India placed J&K on 5th spot and claimed that over 6 lakh people in the Union Territory were affected by drug abuse.
As per the record obtained in September this year, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report has revealed that 1681 cases have been registered under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2021. Around 357 cases were registered for possessing drugs for personal use. Around 1324 cases were registered for possession for trafficking.
Jammu and Kashmir is situated in close vicinity to the golden crescent which produces 80 percent of the world¡¯s opium.
In 2019, over 3,850 IV heroin abuse cases were recorded, while the number rose to 13,200 in 2021.
In Srinagar, a mother¡¯s struggle to help her teenage son overcome heroin addiction is evidence of an insidious drug problem that has affected Jammu and Kashmir.
The boy in question, a Class 9 student living in one of the city¡¯s uptown areas, has been using it for eight months - since his neighbour offered a free sample. Once hooked, he began spending massive amounts of money - ? 2,000 per gram - to feed the habit.
¡°I am helpless. Just because of one person the entire neighbourhood has been ruined. My son has been ruined. Police have often detained drug peddlers but they quickly release him. I want to save my son and I think the only way is to sell my home and migrate,¡± she said as per an?NDTV?report.
Dr Yasir Hassan Rather, head of the Drug De-addiction Center at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar said that earlier people used to come from specific areas and districts but now these patients are coming from entire valley which is an ¡®alarming¡¯ situation.??
¡°We get to attend to the patients from well-off families as well. Uneducated, educated, and even professionals are involved in drug abuse,¡± he said.
He said that opioid addiction was a chronic addiction and heroin addiction was a disease.
¡°If we treat 150 patients, 80 cases relapse. Opioid addiction changes the morphology or neurochemistry of the brain and it is a long-term change. It takes years to heal,¡± he told a local daily.
He said they have found conduct disorders like behavioural and emotional disorders among these drug addiction cases in Kashmir.
Experts believe that rampant increase in the usage of drugs among the youth was because of the lack of employment.??
The special wing of J&K Police, Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has launched a major crackdown in Jammu and Kashmir in a coordinated manner to curb narcotics smuggling with the arrest of over 1232 drug peddlers and lodging of 867 FIRs in the first quarter of 2021-2022.
The ANTF and J&K Police¡¯s drive against drug peddling foiled many attempts of the inter-state drug peddlers with timely inputs provided by the intelligence agencies.
The security agencies have maintained a tight vigil along the areas falling close to the border including Uri, Kupwara, Rajouri and Poonch as they say Pakistan is behind the transportation of drugs into J&K.
In October last year, police claimed to have recovered drugs worth Rs 25 crore along the Line of Control (LOC) in Uri sector of Baramulla district in north Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference, Rayees Ahmad Bhat, SSP Baramulla credited this successful operation to alert troops posted at the LOC who noticed suspicious movement near the border.
On May 2021, police busted a Pakistan-sponsored narco-terror module in Kupwara district and seized heroin worth Rs 50 crore.
A police official while speaking to the local daily?Greater Kashmir?described drug abuse as a major challenge for law enforcement agencies and said that war against the drug abuse needs combined efforts of the law enforcement agencies as well as the people.
SSP Baramulla said, ¡°The civilians need to come forward to help the society get rid of drug addiction. The war against drug abuse can¡¯t be won without their participation and support.¡±
Amid a spike in Pakistan¡¯s narco-terrorism to fund and fuel terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha also launched a ¡®drug-free J&K¡¯ campaign and said that his government has initiated efforts in right earnest to check drug smuggling from across the border (Pakistan).
Sinha asserted that the administration has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against drug dealers and drug traffickers.
¡°It is a collective responsibility of society to join this fight against drug menace,¡± he said and called upon the representatives from PRIs and the urban local bodies to work with the administration and ensure villages and wards are made drug-free with determined efforts and proactive approach.