Ihave a friend. He has a brother who was more intelligent, efficient and capable than my friend. My friend’s brother would always come first in examinations at school.
The teachers, parents and all the rest would respect him on account of his bright and brilliant academic records. The entire community held the view that this boy would reach newer heights in his career.
His performance in academics continued to rise till secondary school level. Afterwards there was an abrupt decline in his performance and he eventually gave up studies before passing his 10th class examinations.
The boy who was thought to ease out the tough economic conditions of his family, and who was believed to possess a glorious future, went into oblivion without leaving any impact. Instead of easing out the economic conditions of his family he became the reason for many of the worst kind of hardships that befell on the family.
He, instead of sharing the burden of his father in running the family became a burden. Not only the burden but he also turned into a disgrace for the family on account of him indulging in activities and behavioral patterns which are not socially acceptable.
A lovable, and loved, person turned into the one who was scorned, a financially constrained family was devastated and none of the members of the family remained unaffected from this state of affairs. And for all this, one thing was responsible, and that was substance abuse, his addiction with smoking cannabis. This is such a sad story where many dreams were shattered, many careers cut short and many lives disturbed, if not destroyed completely.
This is not an isolated story; it is the story of every such person who resorts to substance abuse, and each such family where a member is addicted to drugs. All the stories of the addicted people and the families of the drug addicts face more or less the similar kinds of repercussions. In an environment of hostile societal attitude the conditions for these people and the families become even more painful and pathetic.
The problem becomes more pressing considering the rate of increase in the number drugs addicts in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In Kashmir valley alone the increase in substance abuse is alarming. The recent studies conducted in the areas present a grim picture despite the efforts of de-diction being made by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and other government agencies and NGOs. The in Kashmir valley of the drug addicts is already in lakh and is increasing very fast.
Drug addiction is not the problem of addiction only. There are other associated problems which make substance abuse, and drug addiction, a very complex issue. In fact, these associated adverse impacts are more alarming than drug addiction, as only addiction. Few of these adverse consequences are the increase in the rate of various crimes, moral degradation, societal disorder and insecurity, financial bankruptcy of many families.
All the regulatory and law enforcement agencies created to prevent people from falling prey to substance abuse have not been able to check the menace. The structural and operational limitations in the working of these agencies prevent them from curing the malady. Actually, curing the malady is a bigger thing, and in the current circumstances it is expecting too much. But even the lesser task of curbing the spread of substance has not be achieved. Contrarily, the drug abuse is spreading fast far and wide.
To deal with the problem of substance abuse and drug addiction, a holistic approach needs to be adopted. In this approach every face and facet of the problem should be taken into consideration. All the causes found and the corrective measures devised and implemented after analyzing all the angles and dimensions of the problem and all the nuances and intricacies that need to be employed where applying the cure.
Hence, to do that the first thing to do is to understand what drug abuse or substance abuse means. The definition of substance abuse that one finds in Wikipedia defines it as a patterned use of a drug in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or other, and is a substance related disorder. Exactly the substances abused in Kashmir have proved to be harmful for the abusers and the people around them, and associated with them.
The items used and abused under drug abuse in Kashmir according to various studies conducted in the region include cannabis, alcohol, heroine, morphine, codeine, brown sugar, SP tablets, Anxit, Alprax, Inhalants like Fevicol, SR solution, Thinner, Shoe Polish, Paint varnish and dirty socks are used as substances. And, it is the abuse of these substances that is the reason behind the smuggling of these items in higher concentrations in Kashmir, and with the passage of time the number of people involved in this sort of smuggling is on the rise.
Some substances like cannabis and poppy (to produce various drugs) are illegally cultivated and the cultivation takes place in large swaths of the land. The disturbed state of law and order situation in Kashmir leaves very less time and resources available with the law enforcement agencies to stop this cultivation. If occasionally any action is taken, it is only a halfhearted effort and merely a face saving exercise with no appreciable outcomes in stopping the menace.
Now is the time to find out the causes behind this steep increase in the number of substance abusers in Kashmir and there are many of them. Most of the causes are directly or indirectly related with the unresolved Kashmir dispute. It is because of this issue that the entire social set of Kashmir has been disturbed. The absence of peace left a vacuum which was occupied by drugs and beneficiaries of the drug addiction.
Normal balancing forces of Kashmiri society have been disrupted. Under these conditions the safety of children and youth is more important than their optimum growth. The worries in people are so high that they hardly get a time to check in case their children and young people are getting attracted towards drugs. The absence of proper rehabilitation mechanism makes it difficult to de-addict the addicts.
Abandonment of the traditional modes of life style and adoption of the western and individualistic way of life also contributes in the increase in substance abuse. In this life style the consumption of drugs and alcohol is considered as an acceptable norm. All the traditional checks are scorned and people refuse to obey these checks and the checks are mostly trespassed.
Under the states of insecurity, unemployment and uncertainly drugs and substances are becoming the only recourse, and refuge, for many youth. To deal with these problems they feel that drugs could help them but instead of any help the drugs and substances are making them helpless and hopeless. Associated with this is the trend where the Kashmiri youth are not ready to work in the traditional crafts and agricultural activities is making them more dependent on government jobs and when they fail to get any jobs, they end up as drug addicts.
The degradation of moral fabric and absence of moral education in schools are other contributing factors . The earlier moral practices are considered obsolete and against the ethos of the modern society. Those who follow, they are presented as backward people and the violators are considered as forward looking. In the end we compromise with the fundamentals which prevent many ills and evils from entering in a society.
Moral education which could act as a panacea in curing the malady of drug abuse is neglected in the schools. In the age where people, especially young and adolescents, are exposed to all types of media get matured before time. It is moral education which could keep those precociously matured youth safe and secured from all types of ills and evils, drug addiction including, but the neglect of this education is giving the youth free access to the drugs and drug addiction.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.