The Global Drug Policy Index 2021 lists Indiaas one of the notable countries for drug abuse. The prevalence of substance dependencyis increasing inexorably over the world and shows no indications of abating. Humanity as a whole will suffer if it is left unchecked. According to a WHO research, there are an estimated 35 million drug users worldwide, and five million people die from drug addiction disorders each year. The situation in India is not encouraging. As per a report by NCB it is estimated that there are around 10 crore people in India who are hooked to various narcotic substances, and the Union region of Jammu and Kashmir is no exception. According to a recent survey, more than 6 lac people in Jammu and Kashmir are addicted to drugs, accounting for 4.6% of the union territory’s population. 90% of those in this ratio are between the ages of 17 and 33. The contributing factors to this psychological devastation of Kashmiri youth are numerous; however, the most notable are unemployment, family disintegration, and economic insecurity. The unemployment rate grew from 16.2% in 2020 to 22.2% in 2021, and according to a recent survey by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Jammu and Kashmir, with an unemployment rate of 32.8%, was second only to Haryana among Indian states. Besides other considerations, the state which is witnessing one of the longest hostilities in human history is thought to have a significant impact on both, economic and psychological well-being of the people of valley.It has, in fact, affected all walks of the life. People have been plunged into darkness by the strife that has been going on since decades. It has had a significant impact on people’s mental health as the number of people who use drugs to create escapist behavior have increased disproportionally. The use of narcotic substances has had a huge impact on the valley since 2014, when floods inflicted significant economic damage in Kashmir, resulting in bankrupt enterprises and dead educational systems.
The Government Medical College Srinagar’s Drug Addiction Center reports a significant increase in consumption quantity. In 2014, just 148 individuals had registered at DDC for heroin addiction treatment; by 2017, this figure had risen to 1800, followed by 2000 patients in 2018, and 3852 in 2019. A deadly pandemic of Covid gripped the world in2019 and our government imposed a lockdown in March 2020 to limit the contamination of the virus. According to media sources, prior to covid-19, India has 10.5% and 38.2% anxiety and depression cases respectively, however, because of pandemic lockdown, about 40.5% of people reported having either anxiety or depression. It makes up around half of the nation’s population, which was at the height of mental instability as a result of the limitations on social movement. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir was no different from that of the rest of India; in fact, it worsened because of the pandemic. People’ here are even more distressed as there is more surge in mental health, though the number of addicts declined apparently during the pandemic lockdown. However, as soon as the lockdown limitations were lifted, the number quickly increased, indicating that the residents of Jammu and Kashmir face a persistent risk of unrestricted drug use in valley. This has resulted in an increase in instances of drug abuse as there are many safe havens for drug addicts in valley and fears that the numbers would climb further cannot be ruled out.
(The author is a third semester student, studying at GDC for women, Anantnag. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are author’s own and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
