Twin Crisis: Climate Change and Substance Abuse
As climate change accelerates into a global crisis, its most devastating impacts are not just ecological only, they are deeply personal also. One of the least examined yet increasingly urgent public health challenges lies at the intersection of climate change and substance abuse. In climate-sensitive, politically fragile regions like Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), rising environmental stress, socioeconomic instability, and widespread trauma are silently fueling an addiction epidemic. This convergence demands urgent attention coupled with an integrated and resilient response.
At first glance, climate change and substance abuse may appear unrelated. But a closer look reveals a web of complex, reinforcing connections. Extreme weather events like heat waves, floods, droughts, hailstorms, gusty winds etc bring more than physical destruction. They leave deep psychological scars, triggering anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These mental health struggles, in turn, drive many toward drugs and alcohol as means of escape or self-medication.
Evidence from climate disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and California’s wildfires shows significant spikes in substance use in the aftermath of such disasters and indicators of the emotional and social fallout that follows ecological collapse are evident. As chronic stress takes root, it becomes fertile ground for addiction.
In Kashmir, these dynamics are magnified. Once a region defined by its pristine natural beauty and agrarian stability, Kashmir is now witnessing fast-eroding climate conditions: reduced snowfall, glacial retreat, erratic rainfall, and water shortages, agro stress, species shift in horticulture, land use change, big monstrous concrete cement and brick structures, water scarcity and waste both domestic and plastic in the food chain and a host of other issues. This all leads to stress, uncertainty, and unemployment.
Layered atop decades of political instability and armed conflict, the psychological burden is immense. Youth, in particular, are caught in a cycle of trauma, joblessness, and digital alienation. For many, substance use becomes a coping mechanism. According to estimates, there are 1 to 1.35 million active drug users in J&K which amounts to nearly 8–10% of the population. The heroin has emerged most widely abused substance. The Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) reported a staggering rise in treatment seekers in a short span of time from just 489 in 2016 to over 7,000 daily cases in 2023. Alarmingly, 90% of these users are between the ages of 17 and 33.
The biological risks of substance abuse are also exacerbated by climate change. Heat waves heighten the dangers of stimulant use and the methamphetamine and cocaine raise body temperature, increasing overdose risk. Opioids, which impair thermoregulation, become especially deadly in both extreme heat and cold. Respiratory depression caused by opioids is worsened by cold winters which turn climate into a co-factor in fatalities.
Climate Disasters often damage or cut off access to healthcare infrastructure, which is especially devastating for addiction services. In rural parts of J&K, clinics are few and far between, and the availability of essential medications like methadone or buprenorphine becomes precarious. These disruptions increase the risk of relapse, withdrawal symptoms, or fatal overdoses.
In such a precarious situation what can be done? A strategy what is called Triple Nexus framework has emerged as a way out. This strategic framework comprising of public health, psychosocial resilience, and climate adaptation taken in hand simultaneously so that we address this menace in a scientific way. More so under public health outreach we need to expand addiction treatment facilities to all districts in a big way .
Under Psychosocial Resilience we need to develop trauma control models, engage youth through peer mentorship programs and establish family therapy units and empower women-led community response teams.
Under Climate adaptation we need to create “green recovery zones” where agro-ecological rehabilitation is paired with addiction recovery and offer vocational training in sustainable agriculture, solar energy, and eco-tourism, green architecture to foster livelihood resilience.
Above all we need to Strengthen Enforcement and deploy AI-driven drug trafficking surveillance and support community reporting with protections and incentives.
There are some global lessons to learn in greening Health Services like the UNDP’s Solar for Health initiative which provides renewable energy to rural clinics, while the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has reduced emissions by 18.5%, saving millions. WHO’s Smart Hospital initiative in the America merges sustainability with disaster resilience.
Jammu & Kashmir could benefit by adopting similar models, investing in solar-powered rural clinics, climate-resilient hospital infrastructure, and mobile or tele psychiatry services to reach remote populations.
In conclusion, it is evident that climate change is quietly intensifying the mental health and addiction crises, particularly in climate-sensitive and politically fragile regions like Jammu & Kashmir. As environmental stress compounds social trauma and economic despair, substance use becomes a coping mechanism for the vulnerable. Breaking this cycle requires more than de-addiction programs as it calls for integrated, climate-resilient, trauma-informed systems rooted in social equity.
The time to act is now.
The author is a policy analyst for climate change
