Drug addiction has become a evil in Jammu and Kashmir especially the Kashmir valley. It is destroying our society with lacs of youth and many homes stand ravaged due to it. Despite law enforcement agencies taking action against drug peddlers on daily basis the issue seems to be going out of hand . The growing drug addiction is also linked to rising crimes in Jammu and Kashmir. Heinous crimes happening in Kashmir have their roots in rising drug addiction. Data and Statistics are ugly related to it .
Few time back, The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment in a reply to a query from National Conference (NC) Member of Parliament, Hasnain Masoodi presented the figures of drug addicts in the lower house of the parliament.
As per the official figures, over 9 lakh persons in Jammu and Kashmir are drug addicts.
Giving the breakup, the Union Ministry said that an estimated 1.44-lakh persons were consuming cannabis in J&K of which 36,000 were female and the rest 1,08,000 males.
said that opioid addiction was prevalent among 5.34 lakh males and 8000 females, sedative addiction among 1.6 lakh males and 8000 females.
The ministry said that other drug addiction substances used in J&K are cocaine, inhalants, and hallucinogens, which were consumed by over 2 lakh persons.
Kashmir is slowly becoming India’s drug capital.
A recent study done by the Government Medical College’s Psychiatry Department has revealed that J&K has surpassed Punjab in drug abuse cases and is currently at the number two position among the top drug abuser states or union territories in the country.
The need of the hour is that Jammu and Kashmir civil society and the Government join hands to curb the drug menace. Religious preachers also should in their sermons give stress to masses to shun the drug abuse, and help drug addicts coming out of this monster.
Expert pulse states that an alarming situation is the result of near-total collapse of the Valley’s age-old informal social discipline and control mechanisms enforced by village elders. Many forces nefarious attack on the Valley’s cultural core has rendered this traditional mechanism of social control ineffective.
Drug addiction definitely is among the biggest issues faced by the region of Jammu and Kashmir which demands collective action from one and all.
