Spurt in using of drugs in Jammu and Kashmir in relation to corresponding increase in drug trafficking should be a cause of concern especially in context of how the menace is spreading its tentacles and how it claws more and more people to the point of deep addiction. Once a user turned an addict virtually cannot live without it, which by constant use over a brief period automatically takes place, the market of drug peddlers becomes more demand oriented hence flourishing of this trade takes place. Not to speak of smoking and consuming alcohol , which can be put in the category of a hard habit but not without slowly damaging the vitals of an over indulgent person but use of lethal cocaine, heroin, opioid and other psychotropic substances among users is reportedly on the increase. Should this menace not be fought on war footing and drug peddlers dealt with ruthlessly as the menace was consequential of wreaking havoc on the individual from within, the concerned family and affecting the society on cumulative basis. Who lures them to drugs as the menace is increasing day by day, should be seen as the basic challenge by the administrative apparatus. The motivating factor for waging a war against drugs should be to save our withering and wasting precious human resources wealth in whatever magnitude notwithstanding. The threat to the very existence of a healthy society comes from the bane of drugs and narcotics use which can be ranked only next to the scourge of terrorism. On deep analysis, we find that UT of Jammu and Kashmir has perhaps not arranged to fairly know from some of the neighbouring states as to what type of initiatives and with what degrees of results they had employed to fight the scourge. Agreed, the Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), as a result of such cursorily perused initiatives , was constituted to fight this malady but whether the same is fully equipped with the necessary and reasonably adequate infrastructure has not been taken care of. Should it be there just for the name sake and not be in a position to show encouraging results by way of there being perceptible reduction in the extent and the degree of the malaise of drugs? Have all those arrangements for effectively constituting the ANTF team been taken besides transferring personnel comprising different ranks right from the SP, DSP to Inspectors and constables from erstwhile Anti High- jacking Units to it which were in all to be over 100 posts? Besides, have all the personnel thus transferred to the ANTF been exclusively kept at its disposal and if not, does it all not reveal that proper planning , requirement , needs deployment and allied issues were not meticulously planned and projected. Looking to the gigantic nature of the curse so deep rooted, probably in each and every district of the UT, such a meagre manpower otherwise appears to be proverbial ‘a drop in the bucket’. Inspector General of Police (Crime, J&K), the authority under the overall control and superintendence of which the Anti Narcotics Task Force is to function must be regularly giving the inputs of various hues and necessary feedback to the Government about the e projected goals and targets compared to actual achievements in respect of the tasks assigned and the reasons of the yawning gaps. We would like to know the steps taken by the Government in giving more teeth and sharpened edges to the ANTF in the absence of which, we are afraid, the drug mafia and its trade and expansion of the business of maiming and crippling people through various channels of sales would not be contained let alone finished. Not only have the relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPSA) 1985 need to be vigorously enforced in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir which cannot be possible without imparting all the required powers to it, requisite basic appurtenances provided to it , reasonable professional autonomy and targets oriented assignments given to it but the Force needs to be made agile, imparted latest trainings, modern techniques and acquainted with the particular methods of investigations as required under the NDPSA. Keeping it under-staffed and starved of the tools it requires to fight the most challenging task of combating the scourge of drugs , therefore, would be too costly which could prove irreversible in the long run
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