Just days back, on 26th June, we observed the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. It is an occasions that symbolizes global concern to fight against the most horrific threat to the lives of the people around the globe. Right now covid pandemic is keeping us all busy, and the mankind is struggling hard to defeat the virus. But the menace of drug abuse is a far greater, and far more enduring problem, that we are facing at a global level.
In J&K this problem has presented itself brazenly and pronouncedly from last some years. Earlier we would brush aside any news regarding the presence of this problem here. But the way news consistently kept surfacing up we finally woke up to find out the disaster all around us. Earlier we would explain it as some sort of conspiracy, and thus dust it off. But over the years we realised that the problem has sent its roots deep into our society.
Now it is so frightening that one doesn’t easily figure out what would happen to our society if it is not rooted out, and that too very soon. The introduction of substances like heroine, and at a level that is now being reported, is sending shock waves all around.
We need to find out how such a spike in the cases of heroine addiction could happen? Who makes it available to our youth, wherefrom does it sneak into this valley? The established networks of drug peddlers need to be busted and those found involved made an example of. We need to come out of the futile exercise called blame game.
The government and the societal forces need to collaborate on this. Right now a direct action is needed against those who are involved in smuggling this drug into J&K and then distributing it into cities, towns, and villages. Alongside this, we need to mobilize our society against this menace.
Schools, families, and government institutions must be roped in to launch a combined offensive against this curse, called drug addiction. We cannot waste any time, as this is a emergency.