JK the nerve centre of drugs, reveals study

Srinagar|: Jammu and Kashmir have become a nerve center of drugs. A recent study has revealed that Jammu Kashmir has nearly 600,000 people involved in drug-related issues which are approximately 4.6 per cent of the population of Jammu & Kashmir.
Thousands of people, mostly youth, from Kashmir are slipping into the dark alleys of drug addiction as the Valley has been overflowing with huge quantities of heroin. Jammu and Kashmir have seen an aggressive increase in the drug use in recent Years.
According to a Study Report, the number of drug addicts in Kashmir is around 600,000 and 90% of them are between 17 and 35 years of age. According to police sources, youths involved in crime are addicted to various drugs which eventually lead to various crimes.
The states circumstances from the last two decades were considered by most people have contributed to various kinds of social and political issues including drug addiction.
The lot of youth has turned to drugs who have directly or indirectly affected by the turmoil in the state, but this is not the only reason behind this epidemic because there are other reasons as well, as reported by different studies that have been conducted in the state. Unemployment, relationship problems are naming a few.
A survey conducted in two districts of Kashmir Valley was shocking and disturbing . In Srinagar and Anantnag districts alone, some 10,000 people were using illegal drugs including heroin, cocaine and brown sugar worth Rs 3.5 crore daily.
Sources from the de-addiction counseling centers highlighted stress as a major factor. “Easy availability of drugs makes the situation worse. Apart from heroin and cocaine, brown sugar, SP tablets, Anxit cannabis is the most commonly used drug because it is easily available.” The youths also abuse opioids, shoe polish, paint varnish, and inhalants like Fevicol and SR solution (used for woodwork) and even snake venom.The alarming rate of this menace in Kashmir leads the academicians and experts to comment that “We have lost one generation to bullets and we may lose another generation to drugs”.This griming picture of drug abuse in the Kashmir valley has put a lot of challenges for the people of the valley in general and for Government agencies in particular.
The biggest challenge is the illegal trafficking and sale of drugs within the valley to which police and general people have an important role to play. Though there are different measures taken by the state government to eliminate this curb, including the J&K Police Department running a number of drug De-Addiction centres in the Kashmir valley