J&K to set up drug de-addiction centers in all district hospitals

With an aim to tackle swelling drug abuse cases and to rehabilitate the addicts, Jammu and Kashmir Government mulled to establish drug de-addiction centres in all District Hospitals across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

As drug addiction has allegedly gripped the youth in Jammu and Kashmir, the government has planned to set up drug de-addiction centres in all the district hospitals with facilities under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme to de-addiction centres.

“The government has already introduced Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) to help the affected people to come out of addiction,” official sources said.

They said that Jammu and Kashmir share boundaries to the opium producing countries of South Asia, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and that it produces 80 percent of the world’s opium and is considered to be a major source of the illegal drug trade.

“In such a situation, it becomes even more important to stop the menace of drug abuse in Jammu and Kashmir,” they said, adding, “to deal with this growing social problem, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir had formulated a de-addiction policy so that everyone is engaged to deal with the menace of drug abuse.”
Notably, after Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir is the only region to have its own de-addiction policy.

The policy covers social, medical and legal aspects to better address the issue and also lays emphasis on standards of care in de-addiction centres.“Crime rate has also increased due to drug abuse and it has also allegedly reduced the participation of youth in economic activities,” they said.

In Jammu and Kashmir, two committees have also been constituted to fight the problem comprising one State level committee that have been asked to suggest changes in de-addiction policy from time to time while division level committees have been appointed in new de-addiction centers.

The policy focuses on several key aspects including prevention, rehabilitation and integration, training, community participation, awareness generation, they added.

There has been a huge increase in physical, mental and substance use disorders in the past two decades across Jammu and Kashmir and the trend has also been witnessed among women, sources asserted.
Apart from this, for effective monitoring, the government has also constituted an Anti-Narcotics Task Force in coordination with the Excise and Agriculture Departments on both private and government land.

ANTF has been asked to prepare an action plan to stop opium cultivation in the next season while the ANTF will also conduct awareness campaigns across the Union Territory.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on February 12 said efforts are being intensified to fight narco-terrorism unleashed by the Pakistan after laying the foundation stone for Drug De-Addiction Centre in Channi Himmat area here.