Udta Punjab!
The State must take immediate steps to get out of the drug rut and save an entire generation
Punjab has a big drug problem it is yet to deal strictly with. It was a big issue in the Assembly elections held on February 20. All political parties promised to take action, without specifying what and why the big drug peddlers and influential people, including, allegedly, politicians, have not been caught to date. Ironically, political campaigners entering villages in rural constituencies had to face local anti-drug abuse committees who suspect all outsiders entering their villages of being drug peddlers. Such is the extent of the menace. In one constituency alone, it is reported, 55 people, caught in the abuse trap, died in the last decade. It is ironic, again, that the second edition of the Roadmap for Prevention and Control of Substance Abuse in Punjab was released a day after the elections were held. It is compiled by Dr JS Thakur, Professor of Community Medicine at PGIMER (Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research), Chandigarh. The key finding, that 30 lakh people in Punjab are consuming one or the other type of drugs, including alcohol, is not breaking news any longer. The worrying aspect is that 1.7 lakh individuals are hooked to opioids, cannabinoids and sedative-inhalant-stimulants. The final figure of drug addicts may be underreported because a Punjab Government survey in 2015 put the number of addicts at 230,000. And the number is growing. Punjab has the second-highest number of cannabis users. A third of the opioid users in the country are from Punjab. The use of pharma products for their sedation effects is the third highest in Punjab.
Most of the addicts in Punjab are in the harmful or dependent category. A fewer, but rising number of people are taking the inhalational route for psychoactive drugs. This is a category of drugs also used by children and aging. Some rarefied circles are said to be using hallucinogens. There is now a shift from traditional drugs like cannabis, cocaine and heroin to synthetic drugs such as tramadol in most towns. The question is what is to be done about it? Three aspects need immediate attention if Punjab is to get out of the drug rut and save an entire generation from drug abuse. One is to choke the points of entry of drugs into the State. In the past, the border State was a natural entry point for supplies from across the border. The people have little confidence in the State police for catching the big peddlers. Secondly, identifying the kingpins making millions by moving drugs, controlling the supply chains and gangs that distribute drugs hasn’t happened. Names of some prominent politicians are taken in this context. Thirdly, and importantly, there is an urgent need to save the addicts. The Punjab Government has an extensive system in place for weaning people away from addiction. However, it is only an integrated approach, an amalgam of the three factors, that will work. Will the new Government bell the drugs cat?
Source: The Pioneer
