Srinagar: A heroin addict in Kashmir spends an average of nearly 90,000 rupees on the drug every month, the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Kashmir (IMHANS) said in its latest survey.
In its survey, IMHANS has pointed out that in the previous financial year, over 21,000 follow-up patients and 2,000 new patients had turned up at the Drug E-addiction Center at SMHS, while in ’22, the number of new users has gone past 3000 and follow-up patients beyond 38000.
The report added that nearly 75 percent of the patients at the DDC are users of injected heroin, with many diagnosed with Hepatitis B, C, and in some cases HIV.
In a startling revelation, it has come to the fore that eight percent population in Jammu Kashmir is addicted to drugs with experts suggesting that the “only percentage that is known is the one that is being reported, seeks treatment, and that happens at an advanced stage.”
Nearly 10 lakh people in J&K use various types of drugs, according to statistics shared in the Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Dr. Yasir Rather, a professor of psychiatry at IMHANS Srinagar, claims that the rise in heroin abusers may be to blame for Kashmir’s rising crime rate, with users turning to burglary and even murder out of desperation.
In 2022, as many as 1,850 FIRs were filed by the police and 2,756 arrests were made, showing a 60 percent more than in 2019.
As per IMHANS, Drug usage is rampant among young males aged 15-30; 25% of users are unemployed, only 8% are illiterate. The survey reveals that more than 90 percent of all drug users are young men with a mean age of about 28 years.
The survey further pointed out that If heroin is the most consumed drug, it is also the most expensive – average monthly spending by a user is a staggering Rs 88,183.
Police in their records disclosed that the seizure of heroin has more than doubled to 240 kg in 2022 compared with 103 kg in 2019; three in four drug users in Kashmir consume heroin.
