Drug Menace

Why in News?

• Recently, Kerala is using sports to tackle drug menace, for which its Excise department has created clubs near college campuses and hostels in Kerala.

Highlights

• The menace of drug addiction has spread fast among the youth of India.
• India is sandwiched between two largest Opium producing regions of the world that is the Golden triangle on one side and the Golden crescent on other.
• The golden triangle area comprises Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos.
• The golden crescent area includes Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
• India is one of the world’s single largest opiate markets in terms of users and would likely be vulnerable to increased supply. This is because of the intensification of trafficking in opiates originating in Afghanistan may be taking place eastwards, in addition to southwards drug rehab and westwards along the traditional Balkan route. According to World Drug Report 2022, India has the fourth largest quantity of opium seized in 2020 at 5.2 tons and the third-highest amount of morphine was also seized in the same year at 0.7 tons.
• According to the World Drug Report 2021, prescription drugs and their ingredients or ‘precursors’ are being increasingly diverted for recreational use in India—the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world.
• India is also linked to shipment of drugs sold on the 19 major darknet markets analysed over 2011-2020. While steps must be taken to stop supply by tamping down on cross-border trafficking, imposing harsher penalties under the NDPS Act, or improving drug enforcement, India must also address the problem on the demand side.
• Addiction should not be seen as a character flaw, but as an ailment that any other person could be struggling with. Therefore, the stigma associated with drug taking needs to be reduced. Society needs to understand that drug-addicts are victims and not criminals.
• Certain crop drugs which have more than 50% alcohol and opioids need to be contained. Strict action is required from police officers and the excise and narcotics rehabnear.me department to curb the problem of drug menace in the country.
• Education curriculum should include chapters on drug addiction, its impact and also on de-addiction. Proper Counselling is another alternative.

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