J&K Grapples With Sharp Increase In Drug Abuse

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir is facing a serious challenge with a sharp escalation in drug abuse. According to experts, the consumption of several psychotropic drugs, particularly heroin has seen a steep rise in recent years.

They attribute the increase in drug use over the years to the easy availability of heroin in the Union Territory.

"There is drug abuse but there is more abuse of medicinal opioids, cannabis, and charas which is easily grown in these areas. But after 2016, we are seeing different trends, we are seeing that most of the patients who are coming are heroin addicts," Dr. Mohammad Muzaffar Khan, Head of J&K Police Drug Centre said. 

Experts attribute the rise in drug abuse to their easy availability. "Usually, we see that peer pressure influences a lot of people which leads to dependency. The easy availability of drugs, money, or experimentation with drugs also leads to dependency on drugs," Asma Bhat, a psychologist said. 

Some drug addicts undergoing rehabilitation admitted that they became hooked on drugs after initially trying them for fun. They say that after their first experience, it became difficult for them to fully withdraw from them.

"Actually, my friend circle was into drugs. While I was living in a hostel my few friends used to take drugs and I had two or three roommates who also used to take drugs. We did it for enjoyment, for a few days we took drugs for enjoyment but after this, we started experiencing withdrawal symptoms. While we were experiencing withdrawal symptoms, we could not focus on any work and were not interested in studies and we always felt like taking drugs," a drug addict said.

"In 2016, I started taking drugs, I saw my friend taking drugs, and after that, I started taking drugs. When I went on a visit somewhere I had drugs ... at first, it started with cigarettes, then weed, and then I became a heroin addict," he said.

According to local authorities while they are proactively working to curb this menace, a collective effort from the entire community is necessary to effectively address the challenge.