Click to play videoSrinagar: Drug addiction among Kashmir's young people has gone up drastically in years of violence. And to counter that, Jammu and Kashmir police have set up a de-addiction centre.
“I was given drug by my friends and later I got used to it. There are more than 30,000 youth who take drugs, and the number is increasing,'' reveals a Kashmiri drug addict.
Shocking confessions, worrying parents, police and doctors — drug addiction among Kashmiri youth is assuming menacing proportions. No check on sale of medicines like corex and codeines are making things worse.
It is the free sale of sedatives and syrups like these that youth are finding easy access to drugs. Call it side effects of a festering conflict or peer pressure among the youth that more and more people are taking to drugs.
To counter the growing problem, police have opened a de-addiction centre.
A team of doctors and social workers are treating patients at the de-addiction centre at J&K Police Hospital. Meditation and yoga experts also help them in de-addiction. But even as the treatment goes on, doctors warn about what lies ahead.
“The number of young people we have lost in last 18 years, we are going to lose just double that people in next five years. It has taken an epidemic form,” psychologist Dr Mohammad Shahnawaz warns.
The men in khakhi are also doing their bit. They are now vigorously pursuing the drug cartels operating in one guise or another in the Valley.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.