For the Sake of Future

A 2022 study from GMC Srinagar says that nearly a quarter of school students were found to be smoking. It’s not just about tobacco anymore - it’s what it leads to: nicotine, alcohol, codeine-based tablets, meth, even opioids. The rising substance addiction among students, as reported in this paper, should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers, educators, and parents alike. Places that are meant to shape futures are now becoming breeding grounds for addiction.

To start with, we need to acknowledge this crisis for what it is, a public health emergency affecting our children. We can’t rely on just law enforcement. We have to rebuild the culture inside schools too. Equip teachers not just to teach, but to notice and to act. And give students the tools to handle stress, peer pressure, and failure - the real drivers of addiction.

One of the reasons for the growing incidence of addiction is the sale of tobacco products near educational institutions and to minors, despite regulations prohibiting it. The easy availability of contraband outside schools is thus a glaring failure of monitoring mechanisms. Experts are right in calling for the beginning of the campaign against prevention of addiction from classrooms. Other than teaching, schools should also impart life skills education, where children are taught how to manage stress, navigate peer pressure, and understand the risks associated with substance use. Similarly, mental health education should be integrated into the curriculum, not as an optional add-on.

In 2023, a study found that around 52,000 people alone were using IV Heroin, among whom 34 percent were unmarried. Another deeply worrying trend is the rising use of synthetic heroin, which has quietly taken hold over the past few years. What’s especially troubling is that nearly 90 percent of those caught in its grip are young men, most of them barely 28 years old.

Similarly, while a study of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi said that Punjab has 1.2 percent of opiate users, a Kashmir study has revealed the percentage at 2.87 percent. Recent official data reveals that over 25,900 individuals sought outpatient treatment for substance use disorders over the last three years, 1,600 cases of whom required inpatient care.

This is a grim situation and calls for urgent government attention. However, so far, the government’s response has not been commensurate with the magnitude of the problem. It’s time the government treated this crisis with the urgency it deserves - because when we fail to protect our children, we fail as a society.