Securing our future
The rising instances of drug abuse are being reported day in and day out. Not only is the administration ensuring some strict measures to control this menace but the law enforcing agencies too are putting in their effort to restrict the increased incidence of drug abuse.
Though activities like awareness modules are being worked on to aware the students community about the ill effects of drug abuse we need to ensure that the students community gets all the protection that it needs during this highly competitive times.
The student’s community is our future and protecting them from all evils should be our prime concern. More so, in a situation like this where addiction to drugs is becoming the order of the day we need to act more cautious and play safe with this young community which is susceptible to various allurements.
One such concern which we should collectively address and try to make it heard is the use of tobacco products by this young community. The use of tobacco products among the youth is growing with every passing day and since the availability of these products is not checked, it is easily falling into the hands of youth.
Though the sale of tobacco products within 500 meters of all educational institutions is banned and no lose sale of tobacco products and cigarettes is allowed at the retail level but all these rules have been thrown to wind.
Ironically, the government has forgotten to arrange for a follow up on the COTPA act. Smoking cigarettes is a known health hazard however, for obvious reasons the governments both at the federal or the local level have failed to act against it.
When it comes to a place like Jammu and Kashmir cigarettes have proved to be more devilish as it has affected the younger population to the hilt. The issue has become so grave that cigarette smoking is proving to be a stepping stone for various other drug abuses that are prevalent among the younger population.
What is more shocking is that the age of starting substance abuse is lowering every year. The recent experiences from the Drug De-addiction centre (DAC) in Srinagar reveals that children as young as eight years have a brush with substances of abuse.
The most abused substance in this age group is inhalants and solvents. A study by a postgraduate student of psychiatry found that 70 percent of people abusing inhalants used Fevicol SR.
Substance use is a hugely complex problem and most of the questions that one may seek to redress the issue go unanswered. However, multiple factors including biological predisposition, development and social context interplay to lead to this complex behavior.
Since the prime platform that attracts the young user to drugs and substance abuse is tobacco products we need to raise our voice amongst our neighbourhood, and elsewhere so that the sale of lose cigarettes is stopped at the societal level.
Though we have left all the dealing for the administration but in between we forget that we too have our commitments and responsibilities that we need to adhere to.
We cannot escape from the responsibility of avoiding to tackle this grave issue as the retail shopkeepers have made it a habit to allow the sale of lose tobacco products to everyone.
Even outside schools retailers sell cigarettes to young adults and even minors without caring a fig about it. All this needs an immediate attention from us as we cannot let the posterity to go wandering in despair and desolation.
KV News
