Srinagar: Expressing serious concern over the rising drug menace in the valley, Director Health Services Kashmir, Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather on Tuesday claimed that 50,000 individuals in Kashmir are intravenous drug users.
He also said that during a recent de-addiction assessment of 70,000 people in Kashmir, 50,000 were determined to be IV drugs users. He cited poor mental health as the primary cause of drug abuse among the youngsters.
“Young or old, mental health is important for all age groups and any health, be it spiritual, physical or social, is incomplete without mental health. The Psychiatric department last time conducted a de-addiction survey of 70, 000 people in Kashmir, of whom 50,000 were found to be involved in IV use,” Director Health told the media on the sidelines of an event organized on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day.
He also said that those who wish to save themselves from falling prey to major addictions must quit smoking. “All big addictions begin with smoking, thus individuals who want to avoid developing a serious addiction must stop smoking. We could probably avoid developing other addictions if we could control smoking.”
He said drug abuse in Kashmir is at “an all-time high, and the society as a whole has to take strong measures to counter the menace.”
He said the Department of Health Services Kashmir has launched a mental health campaign across all districts in Kashmir and that the objective of the campaign is to create awareness among the masses about the perilous effects of drug addiction.
“An awareness campaign ‘Swast Tann, Swast Mann’ (healthy body, healthy mind) is going on for the last one month in Kashmir, and this program will continue in all districts for the next one month. We have set up de-addiction treatment facilities and mental health units in all districts. I urge people to visit the facilities and avail free mental health check-ups,” the Director said.
