- After Udta Punjab is it Udta Kashmir now?
By: Sadaf Aijaz
From age old cannabis to newer synthetic opioids like tramadol and designer drugs like methamphetamine, India is one of the major hubs for illicit drug trade, reveals the 2018 Annual Report by United Nations backed International Narcotics control Board (INCB).
June 26th is celebrated as International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking every year. It is an exercise undertaken by the world community to sensitize the people in general and youth in particular to the menace of drugs. The picture is grim if the world statistics on the drugs scenario is taken into account with a turnover of around $ 500 billion- it is the third largest business in the world, next to petroleum and Arms trade.
About 208 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other. Drug addiction causes immense human distress and the illegal production and distribution of drugs have spawned crime and violence worldwide. Today there is no part of the world that is free from the curse of drug trafficking or drug addiction. Millions of drug addicts globally are leading miserable lives between life and death.
Drug addiction causes immense human distress and the illegal production and distribution of drugs have spawned crime and violence worldwide
A common misconception regarding drug addiction is that it only affects the life of the user. However, the idea that they are not hurting anyone except themselves nothing is but a mere excuse to justify its ill addiction. Drug addiction is not a one-person phenomenon and it creates a domino effect on the lives of those around them. It is a social problem that normalizes drug use and affects individuals and their families.
Now coming to Kashmir, a place which people call paradise on Earth, has been through two decades of turmoil that resulted in an increase of psychiatric illnesses and psychosocial disturbance. A number of psychiatric problems have emerged like PTSD, OCD, depression and drug addiction. Yes, Kashmir too is caught in the vicious circle of drug abuse and the number of drug addicts are increasing by the day.
According to a report published by United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) around 70 thousand people are drug addicts alone in Kashmir division and among them 31% are women and around 90% drug abusers are between the age group of 17-30 .
In the year 2018, more than 40,000 patients were admitted for consuming various substances that include anti-depressants, cannabis and heroin and shockingly 88%of total drug abusers were found males and 12% were females. This alarming figure was disclosed by a team of doctors at SMHS to a Srinagar based media outlet (KNO).
The doctors said that the use of Cannabis was found at 35 percent among the patients treated at OPD while 10% was for alcohol use. The figure that includes 37% urban population and 62% of rural population and Srinagar city tops the list of abusers followed by Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam and Baramullah.
The figure further reveals that in the OPD at SMHS (Maharaja Hari sing Hospital) a total of 27,791 patients were treated and the figure rose up to 25,823 in 2015. Figures reveal that in year 2016 the figure went up dramatically as 33,747 patients were treated at OPD. In 2017 the figure showed an upward trend as 33,747 patients were treated at the OPD. In 2018, the data shows 46,629 patients were registered at the OPD of the SMHS and in 2019 so far 12,615 patients have been registered at OPD of the hospital.
Various studies have been conducted in recent years while lot of Articles and stories have been published in International and local Media related to alarming rise of Drug use in Kashmir. While writing this I went through various articles, journals and research papers. One of them was of Naqashbandi in his paper titled as “Drug addiction and youth of Kashmir” (2012) where 270 young Kashmiri people between the age group of 16-30 in different districts of Kashmir were interviewed. His findings revealed that conflict and unemployment were the main reason of drug addiction among the youths. The study further said that about 90% of drug abusers are poly abusers. The poly abuser is one who takes two or more drugs at a given period of time for example, a person who is taking Cannabis also taking Alcohol or Heroine or any other drug.
Cannabis, heroine and Indian produced pharmaceutical drugs are the most frequently drugs used in Kashmir. Cannabis products often called Charas, Ghanja or Bhang are used throughout India because it has attained some amount of Religious sanitity because of its association with some Hindu deities.
Individuals begin to use drugs with varied choices. Some people use drugs to relieve some medical conditions who continue to use them even after the medical condition is resolved. Some people who feel depressed begin to use the drugs to self medicate and get addicted to it. Sometimes a traumatized event or relationship issue leads a person to drugs.
The disintegration of the old joint family system, absence of parental love and care in modern families where both parents are working, decline of old religious moral values etc. lead to rise in the number of drug addicts who take drugs to escape hard realities of life.
Once a person becomes addicted to drugs he/she loses his control over drug use and often become isolated from family and friends. They may also face difficulties at work and sometimes lead them to commit crimes leading to brushes with the law.
For a drug addicted person, persistent use of drugs is the primary focus in life and once the drug stops the person will have cravings for the drugs. Our psychological mechanism generates these cravings to maintain a state of equilibrium that relies now on these drugs, these cravings have a psychological mechanism as they stimulate the area of the brain called the amygdala that controls the emotions memory in addicted person. A drug addict can experience a state of cravings at any stage of drug addiction.
The spread and entrenchment of drug abuse needs to be prevented as the cost to the people and, environment and economy will be colossal . There is a need for the Government enforcement agencies ,the non Government philanthropic agencies and others to collaborate and supplement each other’s effort for a solution to the problem of drug addiction through education and legal action.
It is quite strange that such topics are avoided in everyday households, either due to the unwillingness of parents to discuss such issues or due to ignorance. In most cases parents live in denial, despite knowing that their wards are fully exposed to substance culture in today’s world. Teenagers and youngsters too are unable to cope with the various pressures they are subjected to and find solace in drugs, unwilling to consider how drastically it will affect their lives in future. There is, I emphasise, no shame in admitting that they are having problems coping with the daily demands of peers, educational institutions, demanding parents etc. This is where counsellors need to step in and play their part by wisely offering alternative methods for the youth and channelize their depressed or low energies. Schools too must undertake such programmes and every educational institution and all firms must have a counsel on their list of employees.
Sadaf Aijaz is freelance writer from Jammu and Kashmir.
