As we hear every day about the alarming increase of drug addiction in Kashmir but don’t take it seriously and carry on dealing with our day to day life and problems. A large number of people, whether male or female are taking drugs and have become addicted to them but no one is caring about them. Many people don’t understand why or how why or how other people become addicted to drugs.
They may mistakenly think that those who use drugs lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop their drug use simply by choosing to. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting usually takes more than good intentions and strong will. Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even for those who want to.
Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control despite harmful consquences. The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, but repeated drug use can lead to brain changes that challenge an addicted person’s self control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urge to take drugs. The brain changes can be persistent, which is why drug addiction is considered a relapsing disease. People in recovery from drug use disorders are at increased risk for returning to drug use after years of not taking the drug.
Despite aware of these harmful outcomes, many people who take drugs continue to take them, which is the nature of addiction. Most of the young people use drugs because of curiosity and belief that it will reduce their problems like stress, trauma, anxiety, depression such as failed love relationships and failed exams. The people become addicted to these drugs because of the bad company they keep, too much pocket money they possess, lack of parental guidance, easy availability of drugs etc.
In Kashmir cases of drug abuse went from more than 14,500 cases in 2014 to 33,222 in 2016, a staggering increase of 130%in two years. In year 2017, alone up to April the number of drug addicts was 13,352. A United Nations International Drug Control Programme Survey in 2008 estimated 70,000 drug addicts in Kashmir out of which 4000 were women.
It’s the high time to save our future from destruction. Our Islamic organizations, NGOs and common people should come forward and become united leaving aside all the ideological differences to curb this ongoing drug addiction.
The parents of youth have a special role and responsibility in this regard. They should be very careful about the activities of their children. They should be given adequate amount of money and should be enquired about the time they spent outside. They should check the company of their friends and also enquire about their friends.