Drug abuse claims 68 lives till November 2023 in Mizoram

AIZAWL: At least 68 people, including 11 women, have died due to drug abuse in Mizoram till November this year, an official said on Saturday. An official of the state's Excise and Narcotics Department said heroin was the main killer in Mizoram, which shares a 510-kilometre unfenced border with Myanmar and a 318-kilometre border with Bangladesh. The number of drug-related deaths was recorded at 43 last year and 47 in 2021, the official said, adding that this year's death toll is likely to increase by the end of 2023.

The first case of drug-related death in Mizoram, a key route for the smuggling of various types of drugs and other contraband from Myanmar, was recorded in 1984. A total of 1,804 people, including 218 women, have died due to drug abuse during the past 39 years (since 1984).

Drug abuse in Mizoram reached alarming levels with 139 deaths in 2000, while the highest number of drug-related fatalities was 143 in 2004. Between January and October this year, various law-enforcing agencies, including the Excise and Narcotics Department, seized 76.22 kg of heroin. The total seizure of heroin was 33.4 kg last year. Besides heroin, there were 148.46 kg of ganja (cannabis), 78.82 kg of methamphetamine, and other drugs, apart from a substantial quantity of alcohol. Liquor has been banned for many years in Christian-dominated Mizoram.

After heroin, the methamphetamine tablets (also called Yaba tablets or party tablets) contain a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine and are largely misused as high-dose drugs in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, besides India. (IANS)

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