Many of us assumed the spectre was an illusion when it initially appeared. We thought it was a distraction throughout the day’s talks. Someone from outside of us was concocting a panic to disturb the current conversation. As a culture, we refused to acknowledge what was true. That was our first brush with the subject of drug addiction.
Then it spread, and it spread deep through the veins of society. The smoke was detected by our families, communities, schools, and other social areas. But the fire had already spread. Our children started dying under unexplained reasons. Some incidents were reported, but many were not. We eventually recognised the meeting as genuine.
By the time various levels of social leadership had developed some cohesive reaction, maybe even some effective coordination with government measures against drug addiction, larger upheavals had struck us, pulling the two – state and society – in opposing ways. And it wasn’t that one struck the north pole and the other the south. No. One descended and vanished totally. Another expanded out and took up the whole horizon.
Meanwhile, the drug ghost seized soul after soul, costing us life after life. Family tragedy is now a narrative spoken in every village in Kashmir.
We’ve all lost someone to drug addiction – a friend, an acquaintance, a relative, a coworker, or a family member. It is so common that there is a risk of normalising its existence, and some believe we have already beyond that point.
What are our choices if such is the case? Those dealing with this issue, whether within or outside the government, provide a bevy of solutions. They highlight a number of crucial players who may be useful in restraining this monster of drug addiction. We’ve all heard it by now.
The police play an important role. Healthcare authorities may make a huge contribution. Community animators are welcome to contribute. Faith-based organisation may help to keep children away from this curse. Schools and families must defend themselves. All of this is true, and all of these defensive parts may work together to build a larger defence. But something is lacking from the discussion.
When we discuss the origins of drug addiction, we tend to concentrate on specific victims and develop patterns of knowledge. It goes something like this: social pressure, familial hardship, academic failure, a failed relationship, or any other personal deprivation. Then we look at how the abuse chemicals are distributed and how the mafia operates. When we have gathered all of this information, we will develop our answer.
That we must be aware of where our children spend their time. That we must involve our youngsters in constructive ways. That we must de-stress our children in the event that they fail in their careers. That we must strengthen their moral compass.
That we need to provide more athletic opportunities for them. We must mobilise teachers and preachers. That we must have a strong process in place to apprehend and punish the perpetrators. That we must eradicate the drug cartels with all the force necessary.
All of this is accurate, except for one thing. There is another level of truth, and someone needs to elevate this conversation to it. At that level, we can generate even more effective reactions.
When an issue of this magnitude occurs, something is wrong with the collective. We mistook something for something else when this scourge of drug addiction originally appeared on its own.
Our collective mentality became drunk in another manner. That is how our people succumbed, one by one, to this monster. Our inability to protect our society from the risks of drug addiction by delegating responsibility to others opened the path for this calamity. Because our collective mentality refused to admit it, the drug addiction took root here. We continued to be oblivious to our own blindness.
Now is the time to open our eyes and see the item for what it is, not what we imagined it to be. But nothing is well with us right now. As a culture, we are physically unable to function.
That collective inability is what allows the drug devil to thrive. It requires our collective rehabilitation. Small acts of leadership and ownership are required in the seemingly inconsequential portions of our society where this healing might begin.
Unfortunately, the power-of-technology and the technology-of-power – which is now a worldwide phenomena – insist on human civilizations’ collective incompetence.
Those in political arenas of any type must recognise this. And those in charge of governing structures must acknowledge the reality that societies are collectively paralysed before developing a solution to drug addiction.
When a collective’s basic drug is repeatedly overused, it emerges in many forms of social degeneration. God bless Iqbal, the great man of our history who talked about the organic link between a community’s ethical construction and political structure.
If Kashmir’s Muslim community is permitted to rehabilitate itself, drug addiction will fade faster than it did in the previous decade.
