Abid Bashir
Srinagar, Dec 09:
In a shocking revelation, Kashmir has left behind Punjab in drug
abuse and is at second slot after North East as the overall
prevalence of substance abuse has reached 2.87 with Heroin
becoming the most commonly used drug by the addicts, a study
conducted by the Government Medical College's Psychiatry
department, revealed Friday.
The study said that Kashmir was at number two slot as far as
drug abuse was concerned as the region has left behind Punjab
that was considered as the drug hub till recently. “Kashmir is just
behind the North East as of now,” the study states.
It states that the substance use is predominant in young males
with a mean age of 28.15 years. “Substance use was seen
largely in the unemployed population at 25.2 per cent,” it reads.
“The most commonly used psychoactive substance was Opioids
in every district of Kashmir.”
It states that in all ten districts, 67, 468 individuals were having
dependence patterns on psychoactive substances and among
them 5204 individuals were opioids dependent and Heroin was
predominant illicit drug that was used among the Opioid users.”
The study states that overall prevalence of substance use was
2.87 while as for any opioid was 2.23 per cent. “The age of
initiation of heroin was 22.88 years,” the study states. It reads
that the average monthly expense on heroin procurement by
every person who used it was Rs 90,000.
A doctor privy to the study said that imagine 70,000 youth
spending Rs 90,000 each. “The drug abuse in Kashmir has an
economic burden given the amount spent by addicts on a
monthly basis,” he said, wishing not to be quoted by name. He
said that study was conducted in collaboration with the
Directorate of Health Services Kashmir and the Social Welfare
Department.
He said that the Intravenous method of substance use was
common among the addicts. “Young deaths are caused due to
the overdose. We observed that 30 to 40 per cent addicts
suffered from overdose symptoms. Timely intervention saved
many,” the doctor said, adding that the majority of overdose
patients were suffering from Hepatitis-C disease where Liver
suffered intense damage. “If timely intervention is not done, the
person may die due to liver failure,” he said.
