Not these stones and bricks which are in your sight
Dr.sir Mohammad Iqbal
By | Hijaj bin yousuf
Youths are considered as one of most valuable resource in the human society. And, it’s also said that the fate of any nation lies in it’s youth power . But when the same youth ends up becoming the black sheep by getting involved into wild activities like the contemporary growing menace of drug abuse now the mundane scene in every state. Amid the Pandemic the drug abuse has seen the drastic spike in the pattern as more and more youths are falling into the trap of drugs. Especially the people from age group of 12-25 and above.If we look at the situation of drug abuse in our kashmir valley it’s no way different from the other states of India.And it’s incredibly increasing on startling rate.Due to the continuous political unrest from decades many youths are becoming the victims of anxiety and depression and out of this frustration ultimately they end up consuming drugs to get interim relief . Which now has become the major concern apart from prevailing bad political distress.
The most common substance of abuse among youths are nicotine ,cannabis,alcohol, inhalants and cocaine etc. Even drugs like cannabis and poppy are being cultivated locally on large scale and these are not only consumed locally but also smuggled outside the state.
Now loking at the figures it’s worrisome. As per the data available it’s estimated that there are 70,000 drug addicts in kashmir division alone including 4000 women and these statistics shivers as both men and women are out in the race. Infact this terrible situation is driving us towards the mass destruction. Despite of the fact we have been already in tough space from decades and now we are caught in another tempest.
The most common reason that has led to drastic increase in number of substance abusers in our valley is prolonged violence resulting in epidemic of psychological disturbance among the youths most of the youth consume drugs out of curiosity and with this belief that it will reduce their anxiety level. Also lack of parental directions and availability of unnecessary allowances and easy availability of drugs and so on are the prime reasons.
Society has the huge role to play in preventing youths from drug abuse. And it starts from the very home by right parenting. Parents alone can play a sensible effective role . As parents are very powerful. They are the strongest influence a children can have. Parents have to provide guidance and set clear family rules, spend time, talk and listen to their wards and they need to use love and experience to correct the silly or giant mistakes of their children. Primarily parents need to keep certain things in consideration like avoiding such activities that would create bad influence on their spouses like smoking, abusing etc. Also schools ,institutions NGO’s and religious leaders all need to organize awareness programmes to keep our youths out from falling into the trap of substance abuse. And we all need to come forward and act as ae responsible citizens in creating the healthy, happy and impactful society.
(The writer is reading in Higher Secondry education).