July 02
Tawseef Nazir
The Drug abuse is certainly growing among youth in Kashmir Valley and now girls especially in the age group 16-23 too are becoming addicts to drugs.
Sources revealed to The Kashmiriyat that ‘glue sniffing’ has become widespread among girls because it is voluntarily found in petrol, diesel, varnishes, paint thinners, and many other things easily available to the girls.
The Rising inclination towards foreign cultures, study pressure, stress, family disputes, examination stress and love affairs can be seen as potential reasons to the rising drug abuse among girls.
“Some even use it for fun initially and then they get addicted, there have been cases when girls were sent outside Kashmir for rehabilitation,” a student studying drug abuse in Kashmir told The Kashmiriyat.
Despite the rising drug abuse among girls, there is no data available to the health department on the status of drug addiction in Kashmir.
The research student revealed that nearly 40 per cent of the student community in Kashmir is into drugs and at least 30 per cent of female students have become addicts. More than 70 percent of addicts fall in the 18-30 age-group.
The United Nations International Drug Control Programme in its 2008 Survey had said that there were more than 70,000 drug addicts in Kashmir.