Persisting Drug Crisis
The drug crisis in Kashmir is taking on an even more sinister form with synthetic heroin, laced with toxic chemicals becoming the new poison of choice. It is cheaper, deadlier, and more addictive than ever before. Doctors are now seeing a wave of horrifying medical complications—gangrene, heart infections, amputations, and overdoses. Many of these young men arrive at hospitals too late, their limbs already blackened, their bodies shutting down. Some never leave.
Kashmir’s drug crisis is no longer hidden in the shadows, and it is growing in the absence of a comprehensive government policy to address it. This is taking a heavy toll on the families. The desperate parents don’t know how to save their children. A study has found that 52,000 people in Kashmir are injecting heroin, an epidemic in a region of this size. The valley’s opiate use rate stands at 2.87 percent, more than double that of Punjab, a state long synonymous with drug abuse. But the attention that the crisis demands is missing.
True, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have stepped up their fight, making arrests and seizing vehicles used in drug trafficking. Just yesterday, police held three drug peddlers in Sopore and recovered contraband substance from their possession. But while the supply chain may be disrupted, the demand remains high, as is evident by the persisting drug problem.
Why are so many young men falling into this abyss? The answers are not hard to find. Unemployment, and years of conflict have created conditions for this sad state of affairs. This calls for urgent interventions—more rehabilitation centers, better mental health support, and real economic opportunities. But for this, we need a formal government policy geared to address the crisis.
The fight also requires families, communities, and leaders to step up. Because if nothing changes, Kashmir will lose an entire generation—not to bullets, but to a slow death that comes in a tiny packet of white powder, and injectables.