Despite Punjab being at the height of the drug crisis, it has once again regained the top position in political issues this time in the assembly elections. All political parties have promised to solve the state’s “drug problem”, but little has been done for a concrete solution.
Even in the 2017 assembly elections, both the Congress and the AAP had promised action against the “drug syndicate”.
Former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, in his election campaign, took the oath of “breaking the backbone of narcotics” in the state in four weeks over the Gutka Sahib, a book of Sikh religious hymns. It was this promise for which Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had hit out at him, but the Captain has said that he has done a lot to check the drug menace in the state.
Under the Amarinder Singh-led state government, a Special Task Force (STF) was created and Punjab began opening Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centers in October 2017. These centers provide de-addiction medicine to the patients.
Voters in almost every assembly constituency are once again raising the issue of drug addiction along with lack of employment. The issue deals with drug trafficking and drug abuse, which are intertwined.
Punjab is on the path of international drug trade, indicating easy availability of drugs. Opium-based drugs, such as heroin and poppy husks, cannabis and pharmaceutical drugs are the most commonly abused.
de-criminalisation?
Talking about the “solution” to the drug problem by all political parties, former Patiala MP Dr Dharamveer Gandhi feels that they are making false promises, and that drug trafficking is due to political patronage.
In 2016, Dr. Gandhi introduced a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to criminalize natural drugs like opium husk, opium and marijuana. Navjot Sidhu also supported this stand while his wife Navjot Kaur raised the issue recently.
Gandhi said, “The NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act, 1985 outlawed the use of natural/traditional drugs. This gave birth to the drug mafia. Natural drugs became so expensive in the black market that synthetic drugs started coming in. While natural medicines did not cause death, youths are dying every day in Punjab using synthetic drugs.
He also said that the drug mafia was created through political patronage as well as the involvement of the police.
Police involvement in drug dealing is well documented. Among several other cases against police officers, a key is related to former Deputy Superintendent of Police Jagdish Singh Bhola, who was sentenced to 24 years in a multi-crore drug racket case.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia, whose name figured in the STF report 2018, was also booked under the NDPS Act just before the elections and after the expulsion of Capt. Majithia has been granted protection from arrest by the Supreme Court till February 23.
One expert said action in such cases would act as a deterrent, but it would also create a more covert nexus.
‘Directionless’ youth
As well as drug trafficking, there are other issues of drug abuse deaths and addictions. The majority of substance abusers have an early onset.
Dr. Sandeep Bhola, in-charge of the De-addiction and Rehabilitation Society in Kapurthala said that most of the drug addicts are youths, who become drug addicts at some point in their life. The de-addiction center receives around 500 to 600 patients a day who wish to rehabilitate.
Dr Bhola said that when drugs were not available and more people came for de-addiction, then Covid-19 was a boon in disguise. However, he added that more services should be provided to drug addicts. “One of the big problems is that young people are directionless and they start experimenting with drugs and become addicts,” he said.
Dr. Bhola also mentioned the need for de-addiction facilities especially for women and transgenders. Many people went under stress due to lack of services and sensitivity. Another major reason was the lack of employment or resettlement in the society.
Dr Gandhi said that those who want to rehabilitate should be involved in sports and provided employment. He said that they were treated like criminals but they were victims.
He further added, “Natural medicines should be regulated as it has been done in 40 states in the United States. This will also put money in the pocket of the government instead of the mafia.
He said drug abusers should be registered and allowed to plant a certain number of saplings in their kitchen gardens under the supervision of the state. However, experts differ on the use of natural medicines for treatment or even on decriminalizing the use of traditional medicines.
But when it comes to the drug problem in Punjab, which kills every day, most people want quick action and a permanent solution.
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