Kailashpati Sharma
The debate on addressing health crisis effects have been unprecedented since the outbreak of the corona virus, when we talk about this debate immediately shifts to the urgency of vaccine, massive campaigns and expanding our current health infrastructure , the whole Government machinery and system comes into action swiftly. Lock downs happen, strict laws for everyone are crafted and abided by, FIRs are lodged for breaking the law i.e(not wearing masks, going outside without Permissions etc), with a good speed of call of action , which was required also.We also are bringing science and research to the forefront and understanding how we can improve structures. But on the contrary the problem ofdrug abuse which has been scientifically proven to have an adverse effect on health and is a grave problem in Jammu and Kashmir ,Ladakh as well as pan India we stay mum. We don’t ask how serious the drug problem is nationally and In our state and whether we have adopted the right approach to fight this menace.
If you believe that drug abuse can’t be compared to the Covid-19 pandemic, do see the , nationwide survey of drug abuse, published in 2019 , The ‘Magnitude of Substance Abuse in India’ report by AIIMS Delhi’s National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre. It has established that there are roughly 63 lakh people in the country addicted to heroin and 25 lakh to pharmaceutical opioids. Another 50 lakh people are addicted to cannabis and 40 lakh to bhang.
And we haven’t even come to alcohol, which has roughly 5.7 crore people who have problems related to drinking while 2.9 crore are dependent on it. Keep in mind that these numbers represent only the addicted and those with related problems. The actual number of drug and alcohol users is much higher.
By comparison, the Covid-19 pandemic has seen roughly 1.05 crore cases so far. Most of these people have recovered with the number of active cases till mid-January 2021 being a little more than two lakh across India. In sheer numbers, the drug abuse problem in India and specially in Jammu and Kashmir is worse than Covid-19. But the intention here is not to undermine the negative Impact and worst severity of pandemic. It is to highlight the fact that we have a serious drug abuse problem on our hands and I don’t think we have serious focus to kill this issue rather than emotional outburst over a film star’s death.
A big question and discussion here is ,what is the Drug problem,Why This problem there, and what are we doing ?
The common substances used by Drug Addicts in Jammu and Kashmir are Cannabis, Brown Sugar, Heroine, SP tablets, Anxit, Alprax, Inhalants like Fevicol, SR solution, Thinner, Shoe Polish, Paint, varnish and dirty socks are used as substances. The alarming rate of this menace in Jammu and Kashmir leads the academicians and experts to comment that “We have lost one generation to bullets and we may lose another generation to drugs”.Drugs takers are large in numbers in rural areas and spreading faster with peer pressure and no proper check mechanisms existing to make them aware about negative and severe impact on health and future career, life and eventually death.
According to a report published by United Nation, Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) around 70 thousand people are drug addicts alone in the Kashmir division and about 50000 in Jammu region, approximately 21 percent are women. The youth is particularly involved in drug addiction as reported by Government Psychiatric Hospital Srinagar and Jammu. Around 90 percent drug abusers belong to the age group of 17-35. The circumstances in the erstwhile state from last two decades were considered by most people to have contributed to various kinds of social and political issues including drug addiction. The lot number of youth has turned to drugs due to the turmoil in the UT,unemployment, relationship problems, influenced by friends, etc .
This kind of addiction has only two paths – people die young or, if they survive, land at psychiatric hospitals because of adverse nurological effects. We have not seen a third path. The drug problem is a bigger issue next to Covid and terrorism as the UT’s biggest problem, officials say. The biggest challenge comes from across the border, where drug smuggling also funds terrorist groups. Drugs worth hundreds of crores have been seized near the Line of Control (LoC) in the past few years. Drugs in Adjoining state Punjab is a big issue as well and lot of drugs peddlers also travel between two states extensively. We have small drug handlers in every nook and corner of the UT and in many cases local administration and police knows very well. J&K Police have done commendable job especially our DGP Dilbagh Singh has put many efforts in this direction.
In fact, many experts feel that India’s drug supply control measures are disproportionately geared towards seizing minor drugs and jailing petty users rather than catching the big fish smuggling deadly heroin. As one expert told this writer in Hindi, “Ye chindi chor pakadne wali baat hai (we are only catching small fry).”
As a first step in this, AIIMS experts have helped the Union Government kickstart the Nation Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction. But, this is just the beginning of the fight. Real change will come when we, the citizens, will discuss measures of how we cam ,reduce drug demand like we are discussing the merits and demerits of Covishield and Covaxin.
There are different measures taken by UT Government to eliminate this curb, including the J&K Police Department who is running a number of drug de-addiction centres in the Jammu and Kashmir
Suggestions
* Drugs Rehabilitation centres in each district Like Covid19 command centres
* Massive awareness across the Schools with 1-2 days focused campaign , training, connect programmes. Celebration of india against substance abuse and events to engage the youth ,to generate awareness.
* Every Police station need to have Monitor and Grievances cell and quick Response teams . Village level anti drugscells .
* Massive drugs content detection tests for youths in every village and Covid Control like measures. Identify the worst hits and send them to rehabilitation centres
* Instead, the focus should be on reducing drug demand. Countries like Portugal have decriminalised drug consumption. People caught with drugs for personal use are not sent to jail. Instead, they are counselled and provided mental health care support. It has led to a reduction in addicts.
* The drug de addiction center should have secret wards, should be at distant places where personal identities are not disclosed and managed by a Clinical psychologist, Psychiatrists, de addiction Social workers, Counsellors, medical officers, and yoga trainers
* Use CX and IX Digtial health tools to establish the Digital connected anti drugss curing stations, where patients by sitting at home get ll medications and relief
(The author is Founder Rural
Uthaan Mission)
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