Not a single day goes by, when the media does not receive a police statement claiming to have held drug peddlers in Kashmir.
With drug abuse in Kashmir becoming a rampant phenomenon, the main drug rehabilitation facility in Srinagar is reporting at least 150 cases of addiction every day, out of which 95 per cent are heroin abusers, reads a report.
According to official figures, on an average the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) Srinagar, a premium rehab facility, receives at least 150 drug addiction cases daily including 70 follow ups cases.
The alarming fact, however, is that 95 per cent of these drug abusers are addicts of deadly heroin, which has spread its tentacles deep into Kashmiri society over the last five years.
A recent report by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at AIIMS had revealed that Jammu and Kashmir had six lakh drug abusers.
Of these addicts, 90 per cent were found to be in the 17-33 age group. The consumption of opioids in J&K is estimated to be among the highest in the country.
The government needs to take concrete measures whereby the contraband/drugs are seized on the border itself so that not only the youth of J&K is saved from the fatal addiction but also the nefarious designs of the elements with vested interests handling the drug addiction project in Kashmir are foiled effectively.
