Newmai News Network Aizawl | March 22 At least 232 people died of drug abuse in Mizoram in five years since 2013, Mizoram Excise & Narcotics minister R. Lalzirliana told the ongoing session of the Mizoram Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Most of the drugs were smuggled from Southeast Asian countries, especially Myanmar, while substantial quantity also entered from Bangladesh by plane, Lalzirliana said while replying to Dr. K. Beichhua of the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF). He added that the State government of Mizoram is taking massive efforts to launch joint combat with civil bodies against the menace of drug abuse in the State. According to officials of Excise & Narcotics department, over 1,460 people including 163 women have died due to drug abuse in 34 years since 1984, when the first drug-related death due to heroin was detected in the State. The main killer drug was Proxyvon/parvon spas, followed by heroin. Recently however, heroin replaced Proxyvon as the main killer drug. According to records of the Excise and Narcotics department, at least 65 people, including 12 women, died due to substance abuse in the state last year. Of these, 28 people died due to heroin overdose while the rest died due to abuse of other narcotics, the records added. Civil bodies including the Young Mizo Association (YMA) are taking massive effort to curb the menace of drug abuse in the State. Excise and Narcotics department’s report, which was released recently, said that over 6 kg of heroin and 391 kg of ganja were seized during last year. Apart from these, over 1.59 lakh tablets of Pseudoephedrine, 13,400 tablets of Methamphetamine, 4034 capsules of Dextropropoxyphene and several other drugs were also seized during the same year.
