International Day on Drug Abuse

Mere Ritual

At a time when a quarter of Jammu and Kashmir’s total student population is reportedly caught in different types of drug abuse, our state institutions and NGOs needed a greater deal of introspection especially after hosting gatherings on June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse. Sadly, that was not be the case. As usual this year’s anti-drug abuse day also went down as a hollow ritual in which some familiar faces, bureaucrats and top cops highlighted the causes and consequences of drug addiction among people especially the youth. Numbers of official functions were organized across the state to observed the day. However, what was sadly missing in such endeavors was the vision of a proper rehabilitation project, which primarily includes the ability to propose solutions rather than mere highlighting the problems. Except for a few established names such as Save the Children and Action Aid, whenever some disaster or a menace such as drug abuse or other social crimes a host of NGOs in the state play scare-mongers rather than a facilitator for rescue and rehabilitation. Action Aid through a recent finding has revealed that twenty percent of school-goers and thirty percent of ten-plus-two youth are addicted to different forms of drug abuse. Experts believe that the steep rise in drug abuse owes itself to the unrest, political as well as economic stability and an all pervading sense insecurity among young population aging between 15 and 45. Like many parts of the state, drug abuse in Chenab Valley has also increased many folds in the recent path, which was also evident from the fact that number of youth were arrested in drug peddling cases. Concern has already been voiced through about the rising trend of teenagers, mostly school-goers falling to the trap. However, the major concern for the society was the negligence and irresponsibility being depicted by the families of such youth, who either fail to deduct the fact that their wards were indulging in such menace or they were deliberately ignoring the fact. It was the high time that we take the initiative on individual level so that we can save our future generation.