41 dead and counting: Bhutan’s growing Drug problem
A 29-year old man died due to drug overdose at the Intensive Care Unit of the Thimphu national referral hospital, on Monday. The 29-year old was brought in a state of coma to the emergency ward at around 5:30 pm on 4 February. Hospital staff had recovered some Spasmo Proxyvon and white tablets from the deceased’s pockets. This is not the first death under such conditions, as records with concerned agencies reflect 41 such deaths in a span of 10 years. What is disturbing is that Drug overdose deaths have also been increasing rapidly in the last few years particularly from 2007 onwards till date highlighting the increasing number of people falling victim to drug addiction. The sheer volume and increasing accessibility of drugs is also making it difficult for the police to stop the flow of Bhutan’s drug trade. There is an increase in the number of mainly young people getting hooked to the substance. Though the problem threatens to over swamp sections of Bhutanese youth the