Mizoram drug deaths hit 20-yr high: 111 lives lost in 2025

Aizawl: Mizoram is grappling with its deadliest year of drug abuse in two decades, as at least 111 people have lost their lives between Jan and Dec this year, according to records maintained by the excise & narcotics department and the police.The staggering toll underscores the state’s deepening crisis, marking the highest number of drug-related deaths in 20 years. Of the victims, 94 were men and 17 women, aged between 14 and 57. Most deaths were linked to consumption of mixed drugs, while heroin abuse claimed around 40 lives.With this latest figure, the cumulative number of drug-related deaths in Mizoram has risen to 1,990 since 1984, when the first heroin-related fatality was recorded. Over the past 41 years, 1,747 men and 243 women have succumbed to substance abuse. Among the most lethal substances were the painkillers — Spasmo Proxyvon and Parvon Spas — once widely abused by youth, which together claimed 1,161 lives. Heroin accounted for more than 300 deaths, while other drugs killed over 500.The ban on the manufacture of these two painkillers by the central govt in 2017 has significantly reduced fatalities from these painkillers, with no death reported since then. Deaths due to mixed drug use were not recorded until 1998. Between 1999 and 2006, 17 people died from abuse of various drug.