In a major breakthrough, security forces have recovered a huge stock of contraband from north Kashmir. The seizure was made on Sunday, November 20, in Uri region and one person has been arrested in the case. In the recent past, security forces have recovered hundreds of such stashes from the hands of either the drug peddlers or the innocent victims who have fallen prey to the menace of drug abuse in Kashmir. In fact, according to security agencies, drug abuse is being used to infiltrate arms so that the pot could be kept on the boil in Kashmir. It is no secret that drug abuse is becoming a major challenge for security agencies, perhaps a bigger challenge than even insurgency. The use of banned drugs has reached epidemic levels in recent years. Earlier there was a specific class of people belonging to a certain age group and a certain gender who were found to be the victims of a certain kind of drug. Now, the menace has crossed all genders, ages, class barriers and types of drugs that are being abused in Kashmir. More young people have become drug addicts in Kashmir than has ever been known before. While male youngsters used to be the only victims of drug abuse, now even young girls are resorting to the use of drugs. Many of them are recovering at rehabilitation centres run by the government while many more are perhaps suffering in darkness. Earlier, only poppy or cannabis was used by addicts in Kashmir. Now the use of heroin is becoming rampant across Kashmir. Heroin is brought into Kashmir from across the Line of Control and its use has reached epidemic levels. And unlike poppy or heroin, heroin is very costly which pushes drug addicts into a state of deprivation once they are not able to procure the drug. The government has taken several measures to curb the drug menace but much more needs to be done. AT the community level, we must come forward with information regarding drug peddlers in our neighbourhood and ask police to act against them, not through punishment of jail but the warmth of counselling. The victims of drug abuse need to be treated with compassion. They are not criminals and they should not be treated as such. The government must also do its bit by providing them avenues of employment and make consistent efforts to ensure that the menace is eradicated from Jammu and Kashmir.