Crisis Consuming a Generation

The alarming figures released by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment have yet again underscored a grim reality-Jammu and Kashmir is battling a full-blown drug crisis.

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The alarming figures released by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment have yet again underscored a grim realityJammu and Kashmir is battling a full-blown drug crisis.

This is no longer a peripheral issue confined to isolated pockets; it has penetrated the social fabric of the region, affecting both urban centres and rural hinterlands with equal ferocity. With over 13.5 lakh drug users, including 1.68 lakh minors aged between 10 and 17 years, the region stands precariously on the edge of a generational catastrophe. The most disturbing revelation is that nearly 95,000 of these individuals are opioid users, indicating the widespread grip of highly addictive and dangerous substances.