Aizawl: At least 46 people, including three women, have died due to drug abuse during the 2024-2025 financial year till February 13, a senior minister informed the assembly Tuesday.
State Excise and Narcotics Minister Lalnghinglova Hmar said that 1,884 people, including 230 women (accounting for 12.21 per cent of the total fatalities) have died due to substance abuse since 1984, when the first drug-related death, due to heroin, was reported in the state.
He said that different kinds of drugs, including 34.15 kg of heroin, 34.18 kg of Methamphetamine, 329.7 kg of ganja (cannabis), 1.31 kg of Nitrazepam and 152.5 kg of cough syrup, have been seized by law enforcement agencies under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act from April 2024 to January 31, 2025.
Hmar said that 458 people were booked under sections of the NDPS Act for trafficking drugs during the same period.
He said that the state government is making massive efforts to combat the drug menace in collaboration with civil society organisations.
Officials said that Spasmo-proxyvon and Parvon Spas were the main killer drugs in the state till 2015, when heroin took their place due to an increase in the supply of the drug from Myanmar and neighbouring states.
Mizoram shares a 510-km-long border with Myanmar and a 318-km border with Bangladesh. It also shares inter-state boundaries with Assam, Manipur and Tripura.
According to officials, the highest number of drug-related deaths was reported in 2004, when 143 people, including 21 women, died, followed by 139 deaths in 2000.
No death due to drug use was reported in 1986, they said.
From 2015 to 2024, a total of 564 people, including 92 women, died due to abuse of heroin and other drugs, they said.
PTI
