Aizawl: At least 27 people including three women, died in Mizoram due to drug abuse in 2015, according to the record maintained by the state excise and narcotics department.
Of the 27 deaths, nine died due to heroin addiction, four due to abuse of spasmo proxyvon and parvon spas, while 19 died due to consumption of a mixture of different kinds of intoxicating drugs, the record said.
At least 1,342 people including 141 women have died in the state due to drugs in the state since 1984, when the first drug-related death was reported, it said.
Except for the initial six years, till 1989 when heroin-related deaths were high, more and more people died due to spasmo proxivon, a clinical painkiller drug widely abused by the youth in Mizoram.
Out of the 1,342 deaths since 1984 till last year, 1,164 died due to abuse of spasmo proxyvon and parvon spas, while heroin claimed 109 lives, the report said.
State excise and narcotics department officials said there has been considerable increase in heroin trafficking through the porous Mizoram-Myanmar border during the last two years and the cost of heroin in the local market had come down over the years.
The state shares a 404 km long international border with Myanmar and the infamous Golden Triangle makes Mizoram vulnerable to drug trafficking, the officials added. (PTI)
