Drug abuse is no longer a problem confined to a few neighbourhoods or hidden corners of society. It has become one of the most serious social and public-health emergencies confronting Kashmir. Its victims include young men and women, students, workers and people from families that once believed addiction could never enter their homes. The crisis is spreading quietly, often behind closed doors, while society continues to respond with denial, stigma and occasional outrage.
Every report of a young person dying from an overdose, being arrested for drug peddling or entering a rehabilitation centre should force us to ask a larger question: what is happening to a generation that is increasingly turning to substances for escape? Addiction is not born in isolation. It grows where despair, unemployment, family conflict, loneliness, trauma and the absence of meaningful opportunities combine. It thrives in an environment where vulnerable people are left without timely counselling, support or hope.
The first mistake in addressing drug abuse is to treat it only as a law-and-order issue. Drug trafficking must certainly be dealt with firmly. Those who manufacture, smuggle and sell narcotics are not merely breaking the law; they are destroying families and putting the future of society at risk. Their networks must be dismantled, their finances investigated, and their political or official protection, wherever it exists, exposed. But arresting users alone, parading them before cameras or treating them as criminals without understanding their condition will not solve the crisis.
A person dependent on drugs needs accountability, but also treatment. Addiction changes behaviour, damages health and weakens a person’s ability to make rational choices. Many users require medical care, psychiatric support and long-term rehabilitation. They need structured assistance to return to education, employment and family life. Without such support, a person may leave a rehabilitation centre only to return to the same environment, the same pressures and the same unaddressed pain.
The shortage of accessible and affordable rehabilitation services is therefore a major concern. Treatment cannot remain concentrated in a few institutions or be available only to families who can afford private care. Every district should have properly staffed de-addiction and mental-health facilities, with trained doctors, counsellors, psychologists and social workers. Rehabilitation must not end when a patient leaves the centre. Follow-up care, peer-support groups, vocational training and family counselling are essential to prevent relapse.
Families, too, need guidance. In many homes, addiction is concealed because relatives fear social shame. Parents may interpret warning signs as disobedience, bad company or ordinary teenage rebellion. By the time they seek help, the problem has often become severe. Schools and colleges must be equipped to identify changes in behaviour, declining performance, isolation, aggression and other signs of distress. Early intervention can save lives, but it requires a culture in which seeking help is not treated as an admission of family failure.
The education system has an important role beyond lectures and slogans. Students need honest, age-appropriate information about the physical and psychological consequences of substance abuse. They must also be given safe spaces to discuss anxiety, depression, bullying, trauma and peer pressure. A campaign that merely displays frightening images or repeats moral warnings may have limited impact. Young people listen when they are respected, not when they are simply lectured.
Employment and recreation are equally important parts of prevention. A young person without work, direction or a sense of belonging is more vulnerable to destructive influences. Kashmir needs stronger investments in sports facilities, libraries, cultural spaces, skill development and local employment. These are not decorative additions to public policy. They are protective measures. A society that denies its young people opportunity cannot be surprised when despair finds dangerous outlets.
The digital environment has added another layer to the problem. Social media can help traffickers reach vulnerable users, advertise substances and normalise destructive lifestyles. Law-enforcement agencies must monitor such networks within the bounds of law, while parents and educators should understand the online spaces where young people spend their time. At the same time, surveillance cannot replace trust. A frightened or isolated young person is less likely to seek help from adults who respond only with punishment.
Public institutions must also improve coordination. Police, health departments, schools, local administrations, religious leaders and civil-society organisations often work separately, with limited sharing of information or strategy. The response must be integrated and measurable. Authorities should publish regular data on addiction, treatment outcomes, relapse rates and deaths, while protecting the privacy and dignity of patients. Policy cannot be built on rumours, isolated arrests or inflated claims of success.
Religious and community leaders can play a constructive role by speaking about compassion, responsibility and recovery. But religious appeals must not become substitutes for medical treatment. Addiction is not cured by shame. Nor is it cured by forcing families to hide their suffering. A person who seeks help should be supported, not branded for life.
The media also carries a serious responsibility. Sensational coverage of arrests and deaths may attract attention, but it can deepen stigma and push families further into silence. Reporting should focus not only on the identity of a victim or the quantity of drugs seized, but also on the causes, treatment gaps, trafficking routes and institutional failures behind the crisis. The language used by journalists can either encourage people to seek help or convince them that recovery is impossible.
Kashmir cannot arrest its way out of drug abuse. It cannot sermonise its way out of it either. The crisis requires firm action against traffickers, compassionate treatment for users, support for families, honest education and a long-term investment in the mental and social well-being of young people.
The greatest danger is not only the substance itself. It is the normalisation of the crisis, the belief that addiction belongs to someone else’s family and the habit of reacting only after another life is lost. Every delayed intervention carries a cost. The time has come to treat drug abuse as a collective emergency, and to respond with the seriousness, resources and humanity it demands.
(The author is a PhD in sociology and lecturer in HED and a columnist)
