JOIN US95% of drug abusers in Kashmir consume heroin
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.
According to official figures, on an average, the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) Srinagar, a premium rehab facility, receives at least 150 new drug addiction cases daily. Of these, typically 70 cases are follow-up swhile the remaining are new. Of the 150 daily cases reported, around 15, which is 10 per cent of the total cases are teenagers.
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. According to the last census (2011), the population of J&K was 1.25 crore.
What is alarming is that 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.
Today, as Kashmiri society see-saws between denial and acknowledgement, the drug menace, say experts, is assuming frightening proportions in the restive Himalayan region. As per the doctors at the IMHANS, there is a shift from medicinal opioids (Codeine, SP, Tramadol, and Tapentadol) to hardcore drugs, mostly intravenous (IV) heroin.
“Consignments of heroin make their way from across the border swiftly and often go undetected. There is overwhelming suspicion of complicity of the police and even of the Army, but this is next to impossible to prove,” a doctor at the IMHANS told DH on the condition of anonymity.
“The money involved is huge. While one gram of heroin is available for Rs.1200-1500 in Kupwara, in Srinagar peddlers charge Rs 2500-3000 for it,” said the de-addiction specialist who has interacted with hundreds of peddlers and abusers over the course of the last five years.
Dr Yasir Rather, who heads the IMHANS rehab centre, said that earlier abusers used to come from specific areas “but now patients were coming from every nook and corner of Kashmir.”
“We have patients from well-off families as well. Uneducated, educated, and even professionals are involved in drug abuse. It is an alarming situation right now,” he said and added they have found conduct disorders like behavioural and emotional disorders among patients in these drug addiction cases.
Over the last two years, J&K police and other security agencies have also coined the term “narco-terrorism” as they claim militancy in Kashmir is now being financed by the narcotic trade.
“Our neighbor (Pakistan) is not happy with the peaceful atmosphere in J&K and wants to promote narco-terrorism by luring the youth towards drugs and use the money earned out of narco-sale to fuel terrorism,” J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh had said in July.