It is a universally acknowledged fact that sports play vital role in surpassing negative thoughts and devel- op a positive attitude towards life and if the govern- ment promotes sports vigorously at the state as well as national level with sincerity there is no reason why this nation will not be having a happy and healthy citizenry.
Though the J&K government had far back asserted that it is keen to promote sports among youth as participa- tion in games can save them from falling prey to drug abuse, yet nothing commendable in this regard hap- pened thereafter.It needs to be realized that despite making strenuous efforts for eradication of the menace of drug abuse the problem continues to give sleepless nights to the society at large in this troubled state that is just trying to come out of the worst phase of about- three decades of militancy during which the youth espe- cially the students’ community was the worst victim.
Initiatives have been taken to improve our ability to con- nect with those who need the treatment for addiction and care thereafter in order to live without substance abuse in future butunfortunately the problem continues to be far from being solved as is evident from the exist- ing scenario. As such it becomes imperative for the responsible citizens of the state to join hands in fight against this most destructive evil that risks the future of youth who form the substantial proportion of the socie- ty besides this menace having serious impact on the quality of future citizenry of the state as well as the nation at large. The menace of drug abuse has assumed such huge dimensions that it is not possible to for any single agency or individual to eradicate it.
Every year, new synthetic substances are identified and rates of overdose and death caused by different drugs continue to maintain an upward graph which prima facie indicates the utter failure of the law enforcement agencies. Though it is an acknowledged fact that pre- vention is better than cure but in the prevailing situation there is a dire need to accelerate our efforts on the pre- vention as well as treatment or cure front. It is the duty of every individual of the society to participate in this significant endeavour and in this regard the parents and teachers besides the policy makers have a vital role to play. The significance of teachers and parents arises due to the fact that the major portion of time during the vulnerable age period is spent by the young generation with them. As the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh come into exis- tence on 31st Oct 2019 it is hoped that the new dispen- sations headed by the Lieutenant Governors will take serious note of thefar from satisfactory sports infra- structure in these UTs focusing with utmost seriousness on improving the same for which efforts are needed to be initiated on a war footing. Moreover, it is hoped that those in governance as well as the society at large come on a common platform with well coordinated sin- cere efforts to eradicate this menace from thisUnion Territory once for all!