After terrorism, drug abuse a major concern in Kashmir: DIG

According to a pan Kashmir survey conducted in 2022-23 on the “Prevalence and pattern of substance use disorders in 10 districts of Kashmir”, the valley has estimated 67,000 substance-dependent individuals with the majority of them addicted to heroin

After terrorism, drugs are a major challenge to deal with in Jammu and Kashmir, deputy inspector general of police, north Kashmir, Maqsood-u-Zaman said on Tuesday. Zaman said that drug trafficking and abuse is an emerging issue in J&K

The Kashmir administration, with the help of Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences- IMHANS, has been running an awareness campaign against drug abuse in the valley since last week. (File)

“After terrorism, drugs are our main challenge and J&K police is doing a commendable job to deal with that,” he told reporters in north Kashmir.

He said that decisive action has been taken in north Kashmir to control the menace.

“We have recovered a considerable amount of substances and arrested and detained people under NDPS,” he said.

He said that the police need the support of people to control the phenomenon. “We can’t achieve the desired goal till the common people provide us support,” he said.

“Police are arresting people, recovering substances and even attaching properties of drug peddlers but unless people support us, we can’t achieve considerable success,” he said.

According to a pan Kashmir survey conducted in 2022-23 on the “Prevalence and pattern of substance use disorders in 10 districts of Kashmir”, the valley has estimated 67,000 substance-dependent individuals with the majority of them addicted to heroin.

A group of Imams were imparted awareness and training to make people aware of the drug menace last week.

Kashmir divisional commissioner Anshul Garg, last week, said that drug addiction is a major issue in Kashmir. “The statistics indicate that the problem has multiplied three times in the past three years and it is a warning signal for all of us,” he said.

“The consumption of heroin is increasing particularly among the youth. It is a cause of concern and we need to fight it as a society, “ he said.