Revista de abuso de drogas Acceso abierto

Abstracto

Drug Addiction in Kashmir: Issues and Challenges

Sajad Ahmad Bhat and Nasheed Imtiaz

Drug abuse is the patterned and chronic use of a drug in which the person consumes the drug in amounts or by ways which are very hazardous and harmful for him and others. According to WHO “substance abuse is persistent or sporadic drug use inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practice” The present paper is theoretical in nature and aims at high lightening the Issues
and challenges faced by youth involved in drug addiction in the Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir. According to a report published by United Nation, Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) around 70 thousand people are drug addicts alone in the Kashmir division among them approximately 31% are women. The youth is particularly involved in drug addiction as reported by Government Psychiatric
Hospital Srinagar around 90% drug abusers belong to the age group of 17-35. The states circumstances from last two decades were considered by most people have contributed to various kinds of social and political issues including drug addiction. The lot number of youth has turned to drugs who have directly or indirectly affected by the turmoil in the state, but this is not the only reason behind this
epidemic because there are other reasons as well, as reported by different studies that have been conducted in the state. Unemployment, relationship problems are naming a few. There are different measures taken by state government to eliminate this curb, including the J&K Police Department running a number of drug De-Addiction centres in the Kashmir valley.