Drug addiction in Jammu and Kashmir is rising sharply, with local NGOs warning that the region risks losing a generation to substance abuse after earlier losses to conflict, as India transitions from transit hub to major consumer market.

The article cites a 1994 U.S. Congressional report quoting former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s claim that senior army and ISI officials once proposed large-scale heroin smuggling to fund covert operations, and attributes the current surge in cross-border trafficking to ISI efforts to finance terrorism amid Pakistan’s fiscal crisis.

The Indian Army combines border surveillance (now facing increased drone drops), intelligence-sharing and joint seizures with community outreach, skill-training and rehabilitation campaigns to steer youth away from addiction.

Considering the social stigma attached to drug addiction, it’s practically impossible to accurately compile details regarding the same. Nevertheless, by interpolating data from various studies and surveys conducted on sample groups as well as information regarding addicts undergoing rehabilitation in government/ private institutions, a fair assessment on the severity of this problem can be gauged.  

Available data confirms that drug menace in J&K is rapidly increasing and if not checked could assume gargantuan proportions. A recent study reveals that “While India as a whole has increasingly transitioned from a transit hub into a major consumer zone for illicit substances; the situation in J&K has reached a particularly alarming magnitude.”

Drug addiction in J&K is a burgeoning........

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