Drug Use In Punjab

Introduction

After the Green Revolution in the 1970s and the militant attacks in the 1980s, looks like the state of Punjab has another major problem to combat: Drug Abuse.

The vibrancy of Punjab is virtually a myth. Many sell their blood to procure their daily dose of deadly drugs, even beg on the streets for money to continue their addiction.

The entire Punjab is in the grip of drug hurricane which weakens the morale, physique and character of the youth. It is in danger of losing the entire young generation.

Smuggle

Sharing the border with Pakistan makes Punjab the first transit point of drugs smuggled in India from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Carriers”, are those transporting drugs are called are locals from the villages of Punjab who are given discrete information by Pakistan drug smugglers. They are informed about where to pick the drugs from and where to leave them for the next carrier to take them.

Having Mobile SIM – cards issued to them from Pakistan prevents the Indian police from tracing them.

Here, it is important to note that perforation of drugs through the borders is not possible unless people from the army are involved in helping their easy movement.

Many addicts make a few quick bucks through drug-trafficking.

Transport

Punjab was only a transit point for drugs from Afghanistan, which were being routed to other parts of the world or metropolitan cities in the country. Punjab is no more just a transit point. Drugs from Afghanistan are being sold in Punjab itself and the youth in large numbers have joined the cartel.

It is indicative of loop holes in the security system of Punjab as such consignments reach here through the border.

Opium is delivered to Punjab by Pakistan while poppy is delivered from Rajasthan.

The drug traffickers use the cities of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Patiala as well as Chandigarh to smuggle the narcotic substances through Punjab.

It is from here that these drugs seep into other major drug consuming cities like Delhi, Pune etc.

Statistics

Currently, drugs worth 2000 crores are transiting the land of Punjab.

 Approximately 355 packets of Heroine are exchanged in Punjab every day.

According to reports by UNDP, Indian Express and Tehelka, around 73.5% of Punjab’s youth is addicted to drugs which are sold at a price as low as Rs. 25 per dose

There is not a single village is without its score of drug addicts.

Reports say within just one year, hundreds of youth have lost their lives to drugs.

Consumption

The problem however, does not end at trafficking. Punjab is also one of the major consumers of Drugs.

Punjab alone accounts for roughly over one-fifth of the total recoveries of heroin in the country.

The state submitted that studies have been conducted which shed light on the problem in different population groups.

Availability

The close proximity to Pakistan makes access to them easy and cheap for the locals.

Many illegal chemists are surviving on addicts as they provide drugs without prescription. These include of Injectable intoxicants, tablets and syrups are easily available

Even a small village with a population of about 2,000 has at least 10 to 12 chemist shops, without any physician or general practitioner nearby.

Reasons

Rampant unemployment amongst the youth owing to illiteracy and poverty which leads to a deprived psychological state is what leads them into the menace of drugs.

The problem is of epidemic proportions in the rural areas where unemployment is rampant.

Peer influence, thrill-seeking and curiosity about drugs were found to be the main factors promoting drug abuse among youth.

He added that use of alcohol and drugs is now a “part of the Punjabi culture”. No celebration is complete until liquor is served in plenty.

With the consumption of intoxicants having become so widespread, an introduction to them is treated as some kind of a coming-of-age ceremony by most boys.

AIDS

The spread of AIDS, too, is linked with the malady due to sharing of syringes.

The death rate and the HIV positive cases have increased in Punjab by 60 percent.

Women

Drug addicts get AIDS after using infected needles and pass it on to their wives.

They sell off his land and their wife’s jewelry to procure their daily dose.

Men are usually being the bread-winner; the family is reduced to poverty.

College-going girls sail through the strain and pressure of examinations and a cigarette break is quite normal. They also consume pills to increase stamina.

Girls also prefer cough syrups to other forms of intoxicants, thanks to young peddlers, mostly their boyfriends.

Once an affluent village in Amritsar, Maqboolpura has come to be known as a widow village, where almost every home has lost some of its male members to the menace of drugs. Naturally, there are around 500 orphans there.

Type of Drugs

While richer customers take to expensive drugs such as Poppy husk, cocaine, heroin, opium and charas, Iodex, shoe polish and smelling petrol come to the rescue of the poor drug users.

Youngsters are switching to medicinal drugs, cough syrups which are easily available at a chemist shops despite government efforts to limit access to them.

De-addiction Centers

It is undeniable that there have been efforts from the government wherein 88 De-Addiction Centers have been set up in the state by now. However, out of these 88, only 23 are official.

A misconception about de-addiction is being spread in Punjab. Some advertisements are ridiculously promising de-addiction treatment with laser therapy.

Most of the privately run de-addiction centers lack basic facilities and are there just to mint money.

Moreover, the treatment met out to the patients in these centers is inadequate and sometimes proves fatal, owing to the utter lack of sympathy with which drug addicts are handled there.

Media reports have often revealed inhuman treatment of drug addicts at private de-addiction centers where they are even chained and beaten mercilessly on the pretext of maintaining discipline.

But despite the boom in the drug trade, it is still not the core activity of Punjab. Punjab has 1.5 percent of India’s area, producing almost 25 percent of India’s wheat and close to 15 percent rice. Almost all of Punjab is cultivable

Farmers

There is also a huge concern on the massive use of pesticides, which began with the first Green Revolution.

Punjab uses the maximum amount of pesticides in the country and it’s got to a stage where it is more like an addiction. More and more chemicals are needed to produce the same amount of grain.

The Punjab farmer overspends on pesticide, tubewells and tractors, and overdraws on water. He is in a hurry and hurts the soil and environment in the process.

Such is the amount of pesticide in the groundwater that it is believed to be the principal cause of cancer and Hepatitis C

Farmers further drown their sorrows in drugs and alcohol.

What is being done?

It is essential for the government to realize that Rehabilitation Centers, more than De-Addiction Centers are what are actually needed to prevent the addicts from falling back into the trap of Drug Addiction, after being treated once.

100% family support not only strengthens the patients’ will power to fight the problem, but their confidence in the doctors also boosts their moral to take care of people suffering from mental trauma associated with drug addiction.

While organizations like the Red Cross and UNDP are doing their bit in collecting databases, holding de-addiction campaigns etc.

All intoxicants are forbidden in Sikh religion. This is a major factor for addicts to recover.

However, during Elections, a heady cocktail of drugs, illicit liquor and money is employed to woo voters during elections.