Manipur: Over 80 Lives Lost to Drug Overdose in Two Decades, Report Reveals

IMPHAL: A grim reminder of Manipur's growing fight against drug addiction, the Shanlung Action Support Organisation, or SASO, has come out with a shocking report, stating that there is an alarming increase in drug overdose deaths over the last two decades. This report, which came into the limelight during the observation of International Overdose Awareness Day, highlights the grim reality that stares the northeastern state in the eye.

According to the SASO-a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting drug abuse-Manipur has reported 81 deaths related to overdose from 2004 to March 2024. Of the victims, 21 were women, which shows that the drug menace has struck far and wide. The ages of those who died ranged from as young as 17 to as old as 65, painting a grim picture of how addiction spares no one.

The figures are part of a broader set of data that catalog 1,737 overdose events in the same timeframe. About 1,656 people were lucky to have survived such harrowing experiences, but the remainder-81 individuals-were not so lucky and succumbed to the abhorrent world of addiction that has held hostage this state for far too long.

SASO general secretary Sashikumar points out the trend as ominous: from five cases recorded by the organization in 2005, the number gradually grew to the present ominous proportions. This rise is symptomatic of a greater and more complex problem that started to grip Manipur from the 1980s, particularly in sensitive zones near the border.

Substance abuse is not only a health crisis, it is a societal crisis. How serious the problem is can be gauged from the estimate of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh sometime back that more than 1.5 lakh people in Manipur are affected by drug addiction. The situation is still grim as this report says, quoting official data, 4% of the population in the age group of 10-75 years in the state is affected by opioid use. This puts Manipur in the inglorious position of the fifth state in India in terms of the prevalence rate for opioid use.

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