India News | Dip in Drug-related Deaths in Mizoram

Aizawl, Jan 17 (PTI) Mizoram registered a dip in drug-related deaths in 2022 as compared to the previous year, according to the state excise and narcotics department.

Official data accessed by PTI revealed that 43 people, including six women, died due to drug abuse last year, four less than the previous year's record of 47.

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This year, three people have died due to complications caused by drug abuse.

The state has been witnessing a declining trend in drug-related deaths over the past two to three years.

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The number of such fatalities in 2020 stood at 67, the data said.

Most of the victims in the last three years died mainly due to heroin, a senior official of the narcotics department told PTI.

"The northeastern state had registered its first death due to heroin in 1984. Since then, 1,736 people, including 207 females, have died due to drug abuse," he said.

The state's law enforcement agencies, security forces and civil society organisations have been making massive efforts to spread awareness and curb the menace over the past few years, the official stated.

Huge caches of drugs, especially heroin, were seized by law enforcement agencies and security forces last year, the seizure data of which are yet to be compiled, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)