Drug abuse or substance abuse refers to the use of certain chemicals for the purpose of creating pleasurable effects on the brain. When a person use drugs for a long time, it can cause changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits as well. They can hurt a person in judgment, decision making, memory and ability to learn. There are over 190 million drug users around the world and the problem has been increasing at alarming rates, especially among young adults under the age of 30. Apart from the long term damage to the body drug abuse causes, drug addicts who use needles are also at risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis B and C infections. Drug addiction, also called substance dependence or dependence syndrome, is a condition where a person feels a strong need to take a drug. A person who may easily become addicted to drugs is said to have an addictive personality. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines drug addiction as a “mental disorder”. After spending decades probing the brains of drug-loving lab animals and scanning the brains of human volunteers, scientists have developed a detailed picture of how addiction disrupts pathways and processes that underlie desire, habit formation, pleasure, learning, emotional regulation, and cognition. Addiction causes hundreds of changes in brain anatomy, chemistry, and cell-to-cell signaling, including in the gaps between neurons called synapses, which are the molecular machinery for learning. By taking advantage of the brain’s marvelous plasticity, addiction remolds neural circuits to assign supreme value to cocaine or heroin or gin, at the expense of other interests such as health, work, family, or life itself. In a sense, addiction is a pathological form of learning. The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, but repeated drug use can lead to brain changes that challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. These brain changes can be persistent, which is why drug addiction is considered a “relapsing” disease i.e. people in recovery from drug use disorders are at increased risk for returning to drug use even after years of not taking the drug. Most drugs affect the brain’s “reward circuit,” causing euphoria as well as flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy behaviors like taking drugs, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again. These brain adaptations often lead to the person becoming less and less able to derive pleasure from other things they once enjoyed, like food, music, or social activities. No single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs. A combination of genetic, environmental, and developmental factors influences risk for addiction. The more risk factors a person has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. One of the brain areas still maturing during adolescence is the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain that enables us to assess situations, make sound decisions, and keep our emotions and desires under control. The fact that this critical part of an adolescent’s brain is still a work in progress puts them at increased risk for making poor decisions (such as trying drugs or continuing to take them). Also, introducing drugs during this period of development may cause brain changes that have profound and long-lasting consequences. At first, you may choose to take a drug because you like the way it makes you feel. You may think you can control how much and how often you use it. But over time, drugs change how your brain works. These physical changes can last a long time. They make you lose self-control and can lead you to damaging behaviors. Depending upon the substance of choice, the signs of being under the influence will vary. Drug addiction can create a number of problems that are common to all who live with the issue. These include: Hiding substance use, Lying about substances used or the amount of the drug used, Violent or erratic behavior, Extreme mood changes, Complaints of physical illness, Continued use of drugs despite negative consequences, Inability to maintain employment or function well at work, Rationalizing drug use despite consequences, Inability to remain clean and sober for any length of time, Disrupted sleeping and eating patterns and Choosing to get high over other activities. Talking about the Kashmir valley, it is thought to be one of the hardest hit places with drug use and the scenario worsened by the prevailing turmoil. The substance abusers in Kashmir have no profile as addicts are rich and poor, employed and unemployed, traumatized and resilient, educated and illiterate, rural and urban, young and old. The causes are varied as there are relationship issues, failed romantic bonds, break-ups, unemployment, acts of delusion, sudden arrest, killing of some dear one and the desire to impress and imitate peers already involved in drug abuse. In today’s world we are facing more challenges like unemployment, poverty, corruption, under-development etc. and all these problems contribute to form a new problem and that is, Drug Addiction in Kashmir valley. As the time passes through, the range of drugs increased to alarming level, drugs like narcotics, brown sugar, opium, morphine, depressants, alcohol, charas and many more are frequently used by the people of Kashmir valley. It is reported that tobacco, cannabis (charas), alcohol, benzodiazepines (sleeping pills, like alprax, valium), opiates (like codeine, heroin, morphine), brown sugar, inhalants (like fevicol SR, glue, paint thinner, petrol, shoe polish etc.) are the major drugs of abuse in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The geographic location of Jammu and Kashmir is such that the transit of drugs is easily possible across the area J&K. In addition, the prevailing turmoil is claimed to have worsened the drug abuse problem alongside an unusual increase in other psychiatric disorders in Kashmir. Psychiatrists say that substance abuse in Kashmir is widespread and on an average 4,000 addicts pay visit to Srinagar’s Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) annually, of which about 90 per cent abuse hard drugs like heroin. The rest, mostly teenagers, abuse different solvents such as Fevicol SR, correction fluid, glue, shoe polish and weed.
“The UNODC sets a yearly theme for global campaigns. The 2025 theme, “Breaking the Chains: Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery for All”, highlights community support and health care access. They urge participation in the social media campaign to address drug abuse and trafficking.”
The scenario of substance abuse in Kashmir is an alarming crisis and for the last two years or so we are witnessing a new trend: The addicts use hardcore heroin and brown sugar. It is noticed that roughly 30 per cent of substance abusers happen to be the students. According to a survey conducted by United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) there are seventy thousand drug addicts in Kashmir division alone including women four thousand. In Kashmir valley 65% to 70% students are drug addicts. As per government psychiatric disease hospital statistics 90% abusers belong to the age group of 17 to 35 years with a lifetime prevalence of drug addiction. In Kashmir valley the problem of drug addiction has metastasized for several reasons. To begin with, the role of the drug monitoring agencies and police in controlling the menace in the Kashmir Valley is very poor. In rural Kashmir, families are even unaware if a drug is being abused in their midst. It is observed that there is an increase in the crime rate, road accidents, suicides and suicidal attempts, deaths due to overdose, psychiatric disorders and high cost on general health issues due to chronic drug abuse like liver disorders, gastritis, accidental injuries and an increased risk for HIV infections due to Intravenous Drug Use (IDU). The studies conducted by the various government and private agencies have painted a grim picture about the substance users in the Kashmir valley. Dr Bilal in one research study found that drug addiction is getting very common in Kashmir and there is a great need for creating awareness about drug abuse among people. Addiction is a complex but treatable condition. For some people, addiction becomes chronic, with periodic relapses even after long periods of abstinence. As a chronic, relapsing disease, addiction may require continued treatments to increase the intervals between relapses and diminish their intensity. While some with substance issues recover and lead fulfilling lives, others require ongoing additional support. The ultimate goal of addiction treatment is to enable an individual to manage their substance misuse; for some this may mean abstinence. Immediate goals are often to reduce substance abuse, improve the patient’s ability to function, and minimize the medical and social complications of substance abuse and their addiction. Treatments for addiction vary widely according to the types of drugs involved, amount of drugs used, duration of the drug addiction, medical complications and the social needs of the individual. Determining the best type of recovery program for an addicted person depends on a number of factors, including: personality, drugs of choice, concept of spirituality or religion, mental or physical illness, and local availability and affordability of programs. Department of psychiatry, of various medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir should take a lead by conducting awareness and intervention programs in major districts of the state. Further, more drug dependence treatment and counseling centers be formed at all district levels. In December 1987 the UN General Assembly decided to observe June 26 as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The UN was determined to help create an international society free of drug abuse. This resolution recommended further action with regard to the report and conclusions of the 1987 International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.Following the resolution, the years 1991 to 2000 were heralded as the “United Nations Decade Against Drug Abuse”. In 1998 the UN General Assembly adopted a political declaration to address the global drug problem. The declaration expresses UN members’ commitment to fighting the problem.The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has, over the years, been actively involved in launching campaigns to mobilize support for drug control. The UNODC often teams up with other organizations and encourages people in society to actively take part in these campaigns.Governments, organizations and individuals in many countries, have actively participated in promotional events and larger scale activities, such as public rallies and mass media involvement, to promote the awareness of dangers associated with illicit drugs.This day recognises the severe impact that illicit drugs have on health, development, peace and security. Over 3 million people die mostly men due to Alcohol and drug use worldwide. The World Drug Report provides a global overview of the supply and demand of opiates, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances (NPS), as well as their impact on health. It highlights, through improved research and more precise data, that the adverse health consequences of drug use are more widespread than previously thought. Drug use damages health in the form of debilitating HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis, while drug trafficking nourishes money laundering, and deadly terrorism. It is estimated that there are 50 Million people trapped in some form of slavery today. It’s sometimes called “Modern-Day Slavery” and sometimes “Human Trafficking.” At all times it is slavery at its core. The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation. It takes on many forms today such as Domestic Servitude, Forced Labor, Child Labor, Bonded Labor, Forced Marriage. Corruption, the great enabler of organized crime, exists throughout the drug supply chain. In a collective response to these challenges, countries unanimously agreed to counter the world drug problem. It is concluded that all countries work together to eliminate drug abuse at global level and elders, educationists, the religious leaders should come forward and support all people who want to eliminate drug abuse at state level. Every year, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime *UNODC) sets a theme to guide global awareness compaugns and policy recommendations. Theme for the year 2025is “Breaking the Chains: Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery for All”, which emphasizes community support, health care access, and the need for global solidarity in addressing drug abuse and illicit trafficking. The UNODC encourages individuals, non-profit organizations, the private sector and Member States to get involved in its social media campaign to mark this day and invites them to draw on the resources provided in the social media campaign package.
(The authors write frequently for the opinion pages of “Kashmir Horizon”. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
Dr. Bilal Ahmad
Arshi Rafiq
