J&K police's de-addiction centre a hit with the youth

Srinagar: The police in Jammu and Kashmir, mostly in the news for all the wrong reasons, are in the limelight this time. They have set up a drug de-addiction centre in the valley to help the youth.

Faisal (name changed) says, "My friends gave me the pills... first, they gave me one tablet... I got addicted and then started to get used to drugs... When I tried to give up, a feeling of unease, bitterness pushed me back to the drugs."

"There are around 300 boys in our village who take drugs," he adds.

Nasir (name changed), says, "I would not work properly, get agitated and even get very angry with my family."

Almost 23 years of violence and conflict seems to have taken its toll on the valley’s youth, who have taken to drug addiction as a more or less personal way of overcoming crisis.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police - otherwise criticised for its stern law and order measures - is now doing its best to provide some relief.

Its de-addiction centre has so far treated more than 600 youth, including many former militants, stone-pelters and people with criminal records.

Says SM Sahia, IGP Kashmir, "We realised there was a problem in the society and we can with help and started this hospital."

A team of doctors and counsellors treat patients at the centre which is being run at a police hospital. A 24/7 helpline service advises people on how to overcome stress and related maladies.

Even as meditation and yoga experts pitch in to help patients, doctors say the story is grim.

Dr Muzaffar, head, police de-addiction centre, says, "The scenario is alarming… the population is huge… one study estimates the number at 60,000 and another reveals around two lakh youth are addicted… We need a de-addiction hospital at every district."

No check on the sale of medicines like corex and codeines and lately unchecked proliferation of the poppy cultivation in Kashmir are making matters worse.

It is due to the free sale of sedatives and syrups like those mentioned above that the youth are finding easy access to drugs. Call it side-effects of a festering conflict or peer pressure among the youth, more and more people are taking to drugs.

The men in khakhi are doing their bit. But what is needed is that they should vigorously go after 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, Google+ and Pinterest)