Neeraj Dubey
Illicit drug trafficking is one the most significant transnational organized crimes, which has become a serious issue confronting both developing and developed countries. In most countries, despite years of drug suppression and prevention efforts, the cycle of drug trafficking and drug abuse continues. If allowed to remain unabated, the menace will considerably destroy the quality of life and hamper social, economic and cultural development of the nations. Drug smuggling/trafficking is a clandestine activity. Hence, it is impossible to assess its magnitude precisely. However, the quantity of drugs seized by enforcement agencies throw light to the alarming rate of illegal activities connected with drugs. Drug addiction causes immense human distress and the illegal production and distribution of drugs have spawned crime and violence worldwide. Today, there is no part of the world that is free from the curse of drug trafficking and drug addiction. Millions of drug addicts, all over the world, are leading miserable lives, between life and death. India too is caught in this vicious circle of drug abuse, and the numbers of drug addicts are increasing day by day. According to a UN report, One million heroin addicts are registered in India, and unofficially there are as many as five million. India accounts for 1.62% of the world’s seizures. Drug trafficking – a problem that resonates and reinforces itself in just about every part of the world. The International Narcotics Control Board in its 2002 report released in Vienna pointed out that in India persons addicted to opiatesare shifting their drug of choice from opium to heroin. The pharmaceutical products containing narcotic drugs are also increasingly being abused.
Drug abuse is a complex phenomenon, which has various social, cultural, biological, geographical, historical and economic aspects. The disintegration of the old joint family system, absence of parental love and care in modern families where both parents are working, decline of old religious and moral values etc lead to a rise in the number of drug addicts who take drugs to escape hard realities of life. Drug use, misuse or abuse is also primarily due to the nature of the drug abused, the personality of the individual and the addict’s immediate environment. The processes of industrialization, urbanization and migration have led to loosening of the traditional methods of social control rendering an individual vulnerable to the stresses and strains of modern life. Drug abuse has led to a detrimental impact on the society. It has led to increase in the crime rate. Addicts resort to crime to pay for their drugs. Incidence of eve – teasing, group clashes, assault and impulsive murders increase with drug abuse. Apart from affecting the financial stability, addiction increases conflicts and causes untold emotional pain for every member of the family. With most drug users being in the productive age group of 18-35 years, the loss in terms of human potential is incalculable. The damage to the physical, psychological, moral and intellectual growth of the youth is very high. Adolescent drug abuse is one of the major areas of concern in adolescent and young people’s behavior. It is estimated that, in India, by the time most boys reach the ninth grade, about 50 percent of them have tried at least one of the gateway drugs. Women in India face greater problems from drug abuse. Most of the domestic violence is directed against women and occurs in the context of demands for money to buy drugs. At the national level, drug abuse is intrinsically linked with racketeering, conspiracy, corruption, illegal money transfers, terrorism and violence threatening the very stability of governments. The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh has said that the drug problem is a serious threat to public health, safety and well-being of humanity. The Union Home Minister said that our global society is facing serious consequences of drug abuse and it undermines the socio-economic and political stability and sustainable development.
Besides, it also distorts the health and fabric of the society and it is considered to be the originator for petty offences as well as heinous crimes like smuggling of arms & ammunition and money laundering, he added. Shri Rajnath Singh further said that the involvement of various terrorist groups and syndicates in drug trafficking leads to threat to the national security and sovereignty of states by the way of Narco-terrorism. He further elaborated that drug trafficking and abuse has continued its significant toll on valuable human lives and productive years of many person around the globe. With the growth and development of world economy, drug traffickers are also seamlessly trafficking various type of drugs from one corner to other ensuring the availability of the contrabands for vulnerable segment of the society who fall into the trap of drug peddlers and traffickers, he added. Due to India’s close proximity with major opium growing areas of the region, India is facing the serious menace of drug trafficking and as a spillover effect, drug abuse especially among the youth is a matter of concern for us. The Union Home Minister said that due to the presence of Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle in the region, part of South West and South East Asia are more vulnerable for drug trafficking and its abuse. Shri Rajnath Singh said that, the Government of India is well aware about the menace in the region and our National and State agencies in coordination with agencies of neighboring countries are making all efforts to contain the problem. India has braced itself to face the menace of drug trafficking both at the national and international levels. He said that the Prime Minister during his address to the nation on December 14, 2014, had conveyed his concerns on drug problem in the country and in the region particularly among the young generation and emphasized that the society as well as Government will have to work together to fight this problem.
Rajnath Singh said that India’s approach towards tackling the menace of drugs is well enshrined in our Constitution which in the directive principles lay down that the state shall make endeavors to bring about the prohibition of substances injurious for health except for medicinal and scientific purposes. Several measures involving innovative changes in enforcement, legal and judicial systems have been brought into effect. The introduction of death penalty for drug-related offences has been a major deterrent. The Union Home Minister has stated that the trafficking of drugs and its linkages with other organized crimes is a major challenge for the drug law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Narcotics Control Bureau and other drug law enforcement agencies of India are fully capable to deal with such challenges. He further said that the agencies are taking concerted steps for eliminating the menace of drug trafficking. Intelligence inputs are also shared with the neighboring countries on real time basis, in cases where any institutional mechanism exists, but, to put a strong check on the trafficking activities, the Government, the civil society and the citizens at large will have to come together to meet the challenges of drug trafficking. The author likes to conclude this article by this quotation,” The scourge of drug trafficking, that favors violence and sows the seeds of suffering and death, requires of society as a whole an act of courage.”
The author is a Sr. Faculty – GCET – Jammu(J&K)
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