drugs abuse

5 BEST MEASURES TO CURB DRUGS ABUSES

Health

REPORT ON DRUGS ABUSE

As per the United Nations, Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report named World Drug Report 2021, around 275 million people used drugs globally, while over 36 million people suffered from drug use disorder.

If we look at the report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (2020) around 59,806 lawsuits were lodged under the NDPS Act in India.

WHY INDIA IS ONE OF THE MOST AFFECTED REGIONS OF DRUGS ABUSES?

One of the largest Opium producing regions comes under the borders of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand also known as the Golden Triangle.

Now, these regions of the Golden Triangle have been taken over by Afghanistan. The second major region of illicit opium production in Asia spans these three regions Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan also known as Golden Crescent.

India is surrounded by all these opium-producing neighboring countries and India lies between this golden triangle and golden crescent, which is a route for illicit drugs, which is a major concern for India.

The worst affected states in India are Manipur (North East) and regions of (North West) Punjab.

The recent turmoil has recommended some changes in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPSA), 1985.

NDPSA (NARCOTIC DRUGS AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES ACT, INDIA

Recently, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recommended certain alterations to some provisions of the NDPSA Act of 1985. The changes are as follows.

  1. One of the recommendations of the ministry is to decriminalize the holding of narcotic drugs in lesser amounts for a personal basis.
  2. Additional recommendation is that individuals consuming drugs in lesser amounts be dealt with as victims.

The drug is just like a curse let’s have a brief look at the reasons.

REASONS FOR DRUG ABUSE

  1. UNEMPLOYMENT: As per the UN report rising unemployment has played a major role in drug trafficking and covid has exaggerated the pace of unemployment.
  2. EDUCATION: A National Survey in 2002, conducted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment found that 29% of the drug abusers were illiterates.
  3. POVERTY: As per the same ministry above a significant number of them came from poor families, lower strata of the population.

There are numerous reasons for Drug trafficking our teams are working hard to restrict the movement of drugs.

POTENTIAL TO PREVENT DRUG TRAFFICKING

Our team is working hard to prevent (as we have discussed above) the inducement of our youth in Drugs abuses.

Recently, approximately 3,000 kg of heroin has been seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence from the Mundra port in Gujarat’s Kutch, supervised by Adani Ports.

Due to these below reasons we are facing certain challenges to realize our potential.

  1. Weak enforcement of Laws.
  2. The officers are not often adequately trained.
  3. Opium for the Pharmaceutical sector is diverted to illicit channels.

Its aftereffects are destructive, psychologically, economically and it forces the nation to comprise against internal security.

EFFECTS OF DRUG ABUSE

  1. Use of drugs causes Security Challenges for a country by increasing the incidence of various crimes like illegal use of weapons, money laundering, terrorism, Human Trafficking, etc.
  2. Threat to Demographic Dividend damages the physical, psychological, moral, and intellectual growth of the youth.
  3. Impact on Family, instability in family, child abuse, deprivation of schooling.
  4. Hazardous for human health.

The government has taken various efforts to prevent the abuses of the drug and the recent announcement has paved the way to provide some relaxation.

INITIATIVES TAKEN TO CURB DRUGS ABUSES

  1. Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has suggested that the National Fund that was created with the aim to Control Drug misuse be used to administer de-addiction programs instead of policing actions is a heart-winning suggestion.

The National Fund to Control Drug Abuse was created in 1989 under the NDPS Act 1985, to address the expense incurred to fight against illicit drugs, rehabilitate addicts and enlighten the public against its aftereffects.

  1. The Ministry of Social Justice in August 2020 flagged the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ also known as ‘Drugs Free India Campaign’ across 272 districts to sensitize people.
  2. (NAPDDR)
    The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has commenced the execution of the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) for 2018 to 2025 to deliver restoration, medication, counseling, etc.
  3. The government has constituted Narcotics Coordination Centre (NCORD) in November 2016 for coordination among various state and central agencies for effective drug law enforcement.
  4. The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently issued notifications to broaden the jurisdictions of the BSF (Border Security Force) to curb drugs abuses and security of India, inquiry and seize up to 50 km from the international borders on October 11, 2021, in Assam, West Bengal, and Punjab.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR DRUGS ABUSES IN INDIA AND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES in the constitution (Article 47) authorize the state to work against narcotic actions that are injurious to health.

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN NARCOTIC DRUGS and PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES, 1988, The Convention entered into force on November 11, 1990, there are 191 Parties to the Convention as of 2020. It provides extensive measures against drug trafficking.

THE NARCOTIC DRUGS AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES ACT, 1985, The NDPSA Act treats drugs onslaughts extremely seriously and punishments are rigid. Penalties depend on the number of Drugs comprised.

WAY FORWARD

We expect all governments to exhibit tremendous solidarity and furnish assistance, to developing countries, so we can attain the Sustainable Development Goals, promote justice, and leave no one behind.”

However, various efforts have been brought but we expect further advancement of De-addiction and rehabilitation centers.