Drug Menance in Punjab - Not a Supply problem but a Demand problem

Punjab the "Annapurna of India" was benefitted from Green Revolution which led to its economic growth and prosperity.However in recent times Punjab has become target of drug trafficking,drug abuse etc.According to (PGIMER), survey based on 22 districts reports around 0.8% of population or 1.7 lakh youth is under drug addiction.Drug Abuse menance has been rampant in Punjab with the issue being highlighted from assembly Polls in 2017 to some bollywood movies as well.It has been observed that drug menance in Punjab is not a supply problem but a demand problem.

The various reasons that can be attributed for the menace includes the following :

1.Colonial history- The opium was made to grow in the Punjab region as well by the Britishers, introducing the people to the addictive substance.
2.Prosperity- The green revolution led to drastic increase in income of all section of the society, without having a culture of saving. The excess money got diverted towards addictive substances.
3.Geography- It shares border with Pakistan (therefore Golden Crescent area), from where drugs are smuggled into the State.
4.Terrorism- The State had a period of being base of terrorist organisations, which used drug dealing as source of their funding.
5.Easy availability of Substitutes - It is only the type of drug that keeps on changing in accordance with the governmental action against the menace in the State. The governmental clamp down on opium in 2000s led to migration to pharmaceutical drugs until a cheap substitute in the form of heroin became available.
6.POLITICIAN, DRUG CARTEL and DERAS NEXUS to finance Political Parties and which reciprocate by saving drug cartels.
7.Government Policy - Government crackdown on illegal production of opium and shutting down Rajasthan route to Punjab has only worsened the situation and opium dependent population transitioned to heroin which is 3 times as potent as opium is.
8.Poverty and Unemployment - The present-day poverty, agricultural failures, illiteracy and unemployment has made the younger generations indulge in drug peddling and supply of drugs.
9.Inefficiency of Rehablitation Centres - Lack of efficient counsellors,drug rehab centres and implementation of laws also aggravate the issue. Some of the centres are becoming hub of spreading the drugs menance instead of curbing it.
10.Peer Pressure : Last but not the least Peer Pressure is another cause of increase in demand.It act as catalyst to encourage others to try for fun and later it become addiction among youths.

Solutions to curb this Drug Menance :

The need of the hour is a long-term solution targeting both supply and demand side simultaneously for an effective resolution of the problem. The demand side problem can be tackled in the following ways :

1.Education awareness : This should be the first and priority step to be taken by the Government by adding chapters on Drug Awareness and its economic perspective inculcating habit of saving money and investing in right places from the primary schooling.
2.Proper Monitoring and Surveillance of porous borders to stop entry of drugs by any route.
3.Increasing employment opportunities through developing skills and Government efforts such as MUDRA,Skill India,STANDUP INDIA,MAKE IN INDIA, Poverty Alleviation Programmes etc are steps in right direction.
4.Stringent Laws and its effective implementation, robust Drug Rehablitation infrastructure, appointing efficient Councellors should be the priority of Government.
5.Drug eliminating drive,awareness campaigns, street plays can play important role in this direction.
6.Strong Political Will is necessary to break the Political-Drug Cartel Nexus.

It’s imperative to follow above steps to strike at the root cause of drug abuse which will require coordination among all the stakeholders including family, society, government.Conquering supply side only doesn’t solve this problem but it generates another demand for some other drugs, so its demand side should be strictly checked along with supply side.There is also need to have a humanitarian approach where drug addicts are given proper treatment for drug addiction instead of being thrown in jails. This will help Punjab to reap its demographic dividend in coming years.

By: Harman Sandhu