Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 19: The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in general, and Valley, in particular, is slowly becoming Afghanistan as the deadly menace of drugs has gripped the younger lot.
Last year it was informed in an official meeting that as per a consumption survey, Jammu and Kashmir has 6 lakh people affected by drug-related issues which are approximately 4.6% population of the Union territory of which 90% of users are from the 17-33 age group. It was informed that Jammu and Kashmir is situated in close vicinity to the golden crescent which produces 80 percent of the world’s opium and is considered the prime source of the illicit drug trade.
The meeting outlined broad project contours for tackling the drug menace in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Two days ago some reports were published in a section of the media which reflected very dangerous signals.
Counting the number of people who approached the health centres for treatment, it was reported that “one addict walks into Srinagar OPD every 12 minutes Jammu Kashmir drug cases” Over a year, OPD visits at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, the largest district de-addiction center in the Valley, rose by 75% to 41,110 in March 2023. A patient reaches the OPD every 12 minutes.
In the last 18 months, eight out of 10 districts of Kashmir Division have got Addiction Treatment Facility (ATF). Of the remaining two districts, one (Kupwara) has a de-addiction center and the other (Ganderbal) will soon have an ATF. During this period, 6,000 patients were collectively treated at ATFs in five districts of Bandipora, Budgam, Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama.
Police records show that from 103 kg of heroin seized in 2019, it doubled to 240 kg in 2022. Three out of four drug users in Kashmir use heroin.
In 2022, the police filed 1,850 FIRs and made 2,756 arrests. Both are up 60 percent from 2019. |
