Addressing Drug Abuse: A Comprehensive Analysis of Punjab's Crisis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the drug abuse crisis in Punjab, India, examining its historical context, geographical vulnerabilities, and the socio-economic factors contributing to the problem. It details the role of the Indo-Pak border in drug trafficking, the rise of substance abuse among the youth, and the devastating impact on communities, including the tragic 'village of widows.' The report explores the government's efforts, including the establishment of de-addiction centers and anti-drug campaigns, while also highlighting the need for rehabilitation centers, curbing the availability of harmful drugs, and strengthening border security. It also discusses the role of NGOs, the media, and the community in raising awareness and combating the crisis, emphasizing the importance of a multi-faceted approach involving government, non-governmental organizations, and individual citizens to address this deep-rooted issue.

Running head: ISSUE OF DRUG ABUSE IN PUNJAB
Issue of drug abuse in Punjab
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ISSUE OF DRUG ABUSE IN PUNJAB
Drug abuse has been identified as a Global crisis phenomenon by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) and its impact is varying from one country to the other (Abuse,
Substance, and Mental Health Services Administration). Among the various Asian countries,
India seems to be too much caught in this vicious circle of drug abuse while Punjab, the land
of five rivers seems to be the most affected region of the nation. Surviving the militant
attacks in 1980, the next big battle that this state has been confronting since then is its large
spread drug trafficking and drug consumption activities (Kaur).
Various social activists and government officials have periodically intervened and
investigated to find out the root cause of this widespread abuse and the answer has been its
vulnerable geographical location. Punjab shares its border with Pakistan which naturally
makes it the transit point from where the drugs are finally smuggled in India. This has rather
become a lucrative business option for the youth who not only act as “Carriers” by smuggling
drugs but often fall prey to its consumption and become drug addicts (Singh, et al.). The
heads of these drug dealers are basically present in Pakistan and communicate with the locals
through mobile SIM- cards issued in Pakistan which the Indian police cannot track. Once the
drugs reach Punjab then it is supplied to other parts of the country like Delhi, Pune and
Bangalore. This is exactly how the racket has been operating since years. The Border
Security Force (BSF) official R K Arora regarded that Afghanistan is recognised as the
world’s largest producer of heroin, however the price in their home market is very less, hence
these drugs are then smuggled to India through the Indo-Pak border. Once these drugs enter
India, their price shoot up by 10 to 15%, which are finally sold to international markets at sky
high profits (Chand, Gurnam.).
Amidst this trafficking problem, the high rate of drug consumption by the residents of
this state has altogether created another new crisis for the community. While some consider it
as a chain reaction of the widespread unemployment amongst the state youths a video which

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went viral in June 2018 proved that the reason behind this substance abuse is not that simple
and defined. A video was leaked from Punjab where a newlywed woman with all her
weeding bangles was seen lighting candle below a foil and smartly snorting the substance
known as Chitta, the synthetic drug made in Punjab from heroin and other such toxic
substance (Kaur, et al.). Therefore it is more than just the problems of unemployment; rather
it is deep rooted in the culture and lifestyle of the residents. The poor and unemployed are
exposed to Iodex and petrol to satiate their drug addiction while the riche section has
unlimited access to expensive drugs like Poppy husk, cocaine and heroine.
It would be absolute injustice to say that the government officials of the state has not
been active in combating this crisis, especially in presence of MP’s like Ravneet Singh who
did start a 45 days continuing anti-drug march in the state to help the youths, the people
exposed to this substance abuse understand how toxic and destructive is its impact and how
so many lives are lost due to sheer ignorance. The government officials have also aided in
establishing more than 88 De- Addiction Centres by now, however out of which only 23 are
official (Gupta,et al.). A recent study conducted by UN suggests that more than 860,000
young men in the state, aged between 15-35 years take some or the other form of drug.
According to the Narcotics Control Bureau’s reports there is a specific village name
Maqboolpura near Amritsar which is known as the “village of windows”, and the soul reason
for attributing such an agonising name to this place is that basically every single household
here has lost a member in the lieu of drug abuse (Patnaik, Soumendra Mohan, and Loveena
Sehra). This is exactly how horrible the situation is in Punjab. The problem is so widespread
that addressing one issue brings along a tail of other significant issues which are somewhere
interconnected.
The police force, the government and the border force generals are constantly
launching special campaigns against theses drug dealers and suppliers .Till now more than

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17306 cases have been registered under the NDPS Act and more than 18837 arrests have
been made of the accused (KAURA, VINAY). The results of constant persuasion from the
government officials have finally encouraged approximately 80, 000 people to join this de-
addiction centres and Outpatient Opuoid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) Centres. The main aim
of theses officials is to raise the required amount of awareness which is basically absent
among a large section of population due to varied causes related to literacy, economic status
or health issues. There have been more than 6000 programmes, educational seminars and
varied campaigns dedicated towards creating the necessary awareness against the menace of
drug which are regulated by the Drugs Abuse Prevention Officers of the state (DAPO). More
than 11 lakh people have actively participated in these programmes making the anti-drug
abuse campaigns a mass success (Brar, Amandeep Singh).
In this due process of identifying what are the actual issues that Punjab is facing
relating to substance abuse, few significant points have been raised which must be addressed
on an immediate manner. The first and foremost thing is that the state does need more of
rehabilitation centres rather than de-addiction centres. The primary reason behind this is the
mass that have been exposed to drug addiction for such a longer period of time require
psychological counselling other than medical treatment to completely remove drug from their
daily lifestyle. Moreover it has also been observed by varied social activists that the treatment
which are met out to these patients in the de-addiction centres are vey ruthless which in turn
often proves fatal as the patients are quite serious and require sensitive handling and care
(Kaur, et al.). The next issue which needs to be addressed immediately is that there are ample
of local chemist shops which are freely selling harmful drugs to patients without any proper
prescription altogether making it more difficult for the government to fight the issue of drug
abuse in the state. The next immediately need of the hour is to curb the easily availability of
drugs in the state . The border security forces along with varied government officials need to

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constantly keep a check on the border security issues and take stringent action in
manhandling of the same.
Since ages the Government and the whole ministry of Punjab has been criticised for
largely failing to control this widespread abuse. However looking minutely, one can find
numerous stories to draw inspiration from. For instance Mukhtiar Singh a government
employees and a parent who lost his 28 years old son to drug abuse has built a rehab centre
named The Hermitage, a two-storied building amidst lush green lawn , where the patients are
treated with utmost care and are no necessarily reefed as patients but students (Singh,
Malkit). He shared that these people who come for treatments includes judges, police
officials, singers and musicians , students and even quite a few women. The basic problem is
that most are abandoned by their families, which make them more vulnerable, many
individuals have ugly past, where either they have been sexually abused or have been
maltreated which altogether makes the problem even more severe and widespread. Various
schools and colleges in Punjab are conducting street plays, lecture, nukkad nataks in regional
languages to help the locals understand what drug abusive does to one’s life and the people
surrounding them. Spreading the required awareness has been identified as the first and
foremost crucial step in controlling this racket, hence the Joshi Foundation, which is an NGO
is constantly working and creating campaigns like Nasha Mukt Punjab (Rao, Mangala) where
the mass are educated on the early signs of detecting whether a person is falling prey to drug
addiction and it can be treated in the best possible manner. To join hands in spreading mass
awareness, even the Bollywood film industry came up with a film based on this widespread
substance abuse in Punjab name “Udhta Punjab”, where the main cause was to help the
Indian audience understand how the youths are falling prey to this life threatening addiction
and how it is ruining families’ generation after generation.

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One cannot deny the fact that the problem of drug abuse in Punjab is quite deep
rooted and requires strong investigation, control and check by the government. However it
also demands equal participation from the mass especially the youths of the country to
understand what devastating impacts does drug abusive have on the economy and on the
health index of the country. Institutions like Red Cross and UNDP are constantly working on
collecting and analysing data concerned with the success rate of these anti-addiction
campaigns. It is equally important for the non-governmental or private sectors to realise the
plight of this current scenario and help bring in necessary changes and most importantly
every individual as responsible citizen of the nation must raise their voice against such mal
practices and stop such abuse whenever and wherever they find it.

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References:
Abuse, Substance, and Mental Health Services Administration. "National survey on drug use
and health." (2014).
Brar, Amandeep Singh. "Impact of drug abuse in district Sri Muktsar Sahib (Punjab): A
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Chand, Gurnam. "Drug menace in Punjab: Politics and position." DAV SHODHDHARA 116
(2016).
Gupta, Vikram Kumar, et al. "Pattern of shifting of substance abuse among drug addicts
undergoing treatment at DDCS (Drug Deaddiction Centers) in Punjab." J Evol Med Dent Sci
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