NOVEMBER 4 — The north Indian State of Punjab, the land of the five rivers and one of the country’s most prosperous and fertile states, is home to a hidden epidemic: drugs.
The drug problem in Punjab has been around for years but the situation is deteriorating as almost an entire generation is gradually getting addicted to drugs.
The hurricane of drugs is prevalent in the major cities of Punjab such as Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala. Today the streets of Punjab are filled with peddlers and drug addicts. Drugs are openly sold and easily available for as little as 25 rupees (RM1.55).
According to the state health department, one in every three male and female student has consumed drugs at least once.
The drug crisis has reached an alarming level where youth across the cross section of society, including those from affluent families, are addicted to drugs. Children as young as 12 years of age are believed to be involved in the drug trade.
Four out of ten adult men are addicted to some or other drug. While 15 per cent of those are addicted to poppy husk, 20 per cent are addicted to synthetic drugs produced by pharmaceutic companies in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.
According to a study by All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi (AIIMS), over Rs. 7000 crores is spent on drugs annually- among which more than Rs. 6000 crores are spent on heroin alone.
Many other states in India have a drug problem of their own but the drug menace in Punjab has reached epidemic proportions. Punjab has now become the transit route for international drug rackets to other cities in India. Most of the state’s drugs are smuggled through Indo-Pakistan borders right under the noses of the Border Security Force, The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, The Narcotics Control Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau.
Heroin is the main drug that is causing alarm in Punjab. Despite the authorities taking tougher measures on borderline security, smugglers are still trafficking heroin into Punjab. A study commissioned by the Guru Nanak Dev University suggested that 70 per cent of young Punjabi men could be addicted to easily available drugs especially in areas near the India-Pakistan borders.
High unemployment, poor economic conditions and rising illiteracy are the major reasons behind the proliferation of the drug nexus in Punjab. Although the use of drugs was common before the Partition, it accelerated during the Green Revolution in the 1960s. The Green Revolution, which made Punjab affluent and rich, enabled the state to invest in education and infrastructure. But as Punjab’s water table fell and farming turned increasingly mechanical, the state’s main cities failed to create jobs for the public. Economist Gursharan Singh Kainth thinks that the state needs to undergo an “agro-industrial revolution” to create jobs for the youth.
Many addicts resort to their savings in order to pay for their daily fix of drugs that has now driven them to financial woes. The massive addiction has even driven many villagers to sell their ancestral land.
The village of Maqboolpura, a few kilometers from Amritsar, is one of the worst affected villages by the drug pandemic. Despite being of close proximity to Amritsar, the village is largely underdeveloped. Maqboolpura has a small locality of around 25,000 residents who sought refuge immediately after the Partition. Till 2014, around nearly 384 drug-related deaths were reported in the village.
One of the residents lost her children who died from an overdose of drugs.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with the youngsters here...one after another, I lost my four sons. They take drugs all through the day...they ruined this house. I am left with only one son who is shadayi (a nympholept). I made my daughter-in-law marry my sons one after another following their deaths. And now, she is the one running the house by doing people’s household chores,” said Harnaam Kaur was quoted in an online article on The Pioneer.
In recent years, Punjab has also seen a sharp increase in the rate of HIV infections. This may be attributed to the fact that the rate of injectable drug users (IDUs) is far higher in Punjab than in other states. While the national prevalence of HIV is nine per cent, in Punjab the HIV prevalence is around 26 per cent.
State’s drugs problem in film and documentary
A newly released film, Udta Punjab, shows this very drug nexus in Punjab. The film mirrors the Punjabi society where the drug consumption has taken its toll on the youth. One subplot drew a parallel with a real-life case of a sentenced drug lord who named theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD) deputy chief’s brother-in-law as his accomplice (the brother-in-law who is also the state minister claims that the accusations are baseless and unwarranted).
The film almost missed its release date since India’s film board demanded 89 cuts, including every reference to the Punjab state. The Mumbai High Court intervened at the last minute cutting off only one scene. The overruled censor was directed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose political alliance the SAD has been criticised for their inaction on the state’s drug menace.
A documentary named Glut: The Untold Story of Punjab has also revealed the worsening drug crisis in Punjab. The documentary explores how drugs are trafficked from the India Pakistan border into Punjab. The network is slowly proliferaitng across the country.
A former Punjab MP has been criticised for pushing for the legalisation of soft drugs to discourage the use of stronger narcotics. Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, a suspended MP from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claims that legalising soft drugs such as opium and marijuana will not only deter the use of stronger and synthetic narcotics but also end drug mafia in the state.
“Punjab is in severe crisis. Many young people have died,” Gandhi was quoted in an online article on Hindustan Times.
Gandhi thinks that the problem started with the 1985 Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 which mandates tough punishment for possession and distribution of all categories of drugs.
He was suspended by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) last year for alleged anti-party activities. He has sought changes in the law such as separating between “soft drugs” and hard drugs”, establishing a supply chain of soft drugs regulated by government agencies that will deter addicts from hardcore drugs and permitting citizens to a limited quantity of soft or recreational drugs.
Punjab is not only suffering from a drug crisis but also from an alcohol menace. For those who can’t afford to buy drugs, locally brewed alcohol is the cheaper alternative. The annual consumption of alcohol in the state has reached 29 Crore bottles, making it one of the highest per capita consumers of alcohol in the world
While many have blamed Pakistan for Punjab’s drug woes, drugs like anywhere else in the world are not a supply problem but a demand problem.
Hurting the supply will not kill the demand emanating within Punjab.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
