Page 20 - Tehelka Issue 14E

CoverStory DRUG MENACE

POLITICS RULES al economist of international repute. He is part of a NO QUICK SOLUTION time, this boom subsided and this addicted set of
Strangely, nobody in the political furore created over civil society group which organised peaceful demon- There cannot be quick solution to the problem as it youth became small drug peddlers selling very
these deaths bothered to ponder over the question strations all over the state in the first week of July in has not cropped up overnight. About 30 years ago small quantities of either one gram, five grams
as to how the neighbourhood, family, police, local the wake of recent deaths.” Our role is complementa- in Punjab, Opium was consumed predominantly in to earn money to survive addiction. Over 18000
political workers, leaders of all hues failed to notice ry to the government of the day. We are motivating, village but consumers were doing fine as they were arrests made in Punjab comprise mostly of these
and report when victims were alive and in the grip of encouraging people to take stand against drugs not mostly rich ones. Poppy husk was its cheaper alter- small peddlers.
menace. Noise was made only over the dead bodies. the government in order to get over the problem,” he native and did no life-threatening harm to its con- Experts are of the view that the government and
Statements were made castigating the ruling party added. sumers on good numbers. In the second phase, about society must realize that the addiction has been
and the government. For one thing, the police and experts’ explanation 20 years or so later, the younger lot started taking there since times immemorial. Time has come to
In what is essentially a problem that has roots in of recent deaths as fallout of choked drugs supply “medical nasha” as part of which they used to take think out of box rising above political interests to
the individual behaviour, social milieu and economy, chain after the STF launched crackdown on drug drugs for medicinal purposes like cough syrups, cap- contain the menace through pragmatic measures.
a collective response from society and its organs of suppliers sounds plausible though the Opposition sules as well as some concoctions in large quantities “In the present situation, the only choice is how
governance is what is required to take the prob- is unimpressed for its own reasons. This mutual to get high. much of which addiction the society wants to have
lem head on. There seems consensus on this but, political mistrust is the real undoing. The people at Heroin or white powder (chitta) which is derived at a particular phase in time and that choice is rela-
unfortunately, politics takes the front seat. Recently, grassroot are availing the government facilities of from Opium in a laboratory arrived on the scene tive at best. From that perspective it makes sense to
Akali Dal offered of a combined strategy was out- de-addiction and rehabilitation as the numbers about 15 years ago. Around this time, the farming liberalise milder intoxicants. The government must
rightly rejected by the government. On the other show. New initiatives like Drug Abuse Prevention in Punjab started becoming increasingly less take along communities to combat the problem,”
hand, elected representatives are undergoing dope Officers (DAPO) and Neighbourhood Buddy to lend remunerative incidentally, the state witnessed suggested Prof. AK Kala, a leading psychaitirst who
tests only to show political one-upmanship. emotional healing touch and prevent stagmatisation real estate boom. The prices of agricultural lands runs two hospitals in Ludhiana offering acute care
“Community involvement is must for containing the addict have been launched. The state’s educa- and those around cities and town shot up. Due to and long term care of addicts.
the alarming problem which sadly has not happened tional institutions have been roped in for awareness. this, initially the youth had the money to afford
till now, said Dr SS Johl, a Ludhiana-based agricultur- Yet, the short-sighted politics fuels public mistrust. this costly addiction of chitta. Over a period of LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

PUNJAB POLICE GET was initiated against some SHOs too. glers/peddlers arrested and narcotic state agencies are focusing on reduc- Since there is consensus on need of
community involvement in dealing
tion of demand through awareness
substance seized since new govern-
But let me tell you such instances are
ment came to power in 2017?
campaigns and effective de-addiction,
an aberration in the police force com-
with drugs problems. What initia-
TOUGH ON DRUG ABUSERS prising 75,000 employees. Total 17,094 cases were registered rehabilitation measures. We have tives the Punjab police have taken in
this direction?
under NDPS Act and 18,977 persons
also decided to register cases under
Cases have come to light where arrested between March 2017 and June section 304 of the IPC so that cases of Police primarily need to create confi-
smugglers/peddlers lodged in jails 2018. This shows the massive offensive drug-related deaths are investigated dence in the community that instead
Punjab Director General of Police SURESH ARORA recently issued are running drug trade from inside. launched against the drugs in the state. comprehensively from all angles. of punitive action, it will facilitate
strict directives to the field officers to step up their crackdown on What is being done to break their There is not let up in this offensive. treatment of addicts. We intend to
the activities of gangsters and drug smugglers, making it clear that nexus outside? Given the recent spate of drug-relat- How do you rate the performance of resume the practice of village level
The only way to tackle this problem
visits by police officer for the purpose.
the Special Task Force (STF) against
they would be held accountable for any activity of drugs smuggling is to cut off communication of drug ed deaths, do you think challenges for drugs set up in 2017? During my tenure as the DGP under
in their areas. Arora discusses with RAJU WILLIAM his plans to convicts with their outside links. For police on drugs front have increased? I would say the STF has done well but the previous government, we had
To talk about challenges, this is what
this, a high security jail is coming up at
covered over 25,000 villages. I also
still there is scope to do a lot more with
curb drugs menace in the state. Bathinda having capacity to lodge 1500 police are for, always scaling those at additional resources and experience visited villages along with my officers.
inmates mostly involved in drug trade hand and preparing for the new ones. since it was set up as a dedicated body Another important aspect to achieve
The state police are under fire over as well as hardened criminals. It will Here I would also say even a single only a year ago to meet challenges of the purpose is that there is zero toler-
complicity of its officials in drug have all the high-tech security equip- death is unfortunate. We have been drugs. After review, the government ance towards corruption at the police
trade. What’s your reaction to the ment including jammers. The state able to choke the drugs supply line has decided to bring it under the pur- station level. Also Helpline 181 is there
charge? government has also requisitioned two but I must say that is not enough. The view of the state police. The formal no- for people for drug-related informa-
Yes, there have been instances of companies of Central Industrial Secu- demand has also to be reduced. Due to tification is under consideration. The tion and tips. All details about addicts
police officials in such cases but strict rity Force to control access to eight jails difficulty in procuring drugs, addicts Drug Abuse Prevention Officer (DAPO) are kept confidential. We are also start-
action has been taken. Recently a in the state. are resorting to other synthetic drugs programme under it is expected to ing awareness campaign to reach out
Deputy Superintendent of Police was and concoctions through injections generate a lot of awareness among to youths in educational institutions
dismissed from service. Also, action What is the exact number of smug- which are proving fatal. So, all the people in coming time. right from school level.
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