As if militancy, paralysing normal life, street clashes and recurring strikes and hartals were not enough to ruin the career of college and university going youth of the State, peddlers of narcotics and pharmaceutical intoxicants have unleashed drug peddling on a large scale in the length and breadth of the State to bring about ruination of the youth and families. In more recent years, poppy cultivation and manufacture of narcotics with various variants became widespread with political instability in Afghanistan and the rise of many terrorist organizations in the region. Gradually narcotic trafficking assumed international dimensions and with that big narcotic cartels and widespread drug trafficking networks came into existence. Jammu and Kashmir State remained free of drugs and narcotics for a long time essentially because the Government authorities had imposed strict vigil against cultivation of poppy and production of narcotics. But with the surfacing of militancy in the State and its ramifications in the administration sphere, and moreover because of deployment of police force to curb the instances of militancy in the State, some miscreants and anti-social elements began indulging in narcotic trafficking. In Punjab, drug smugglers established contacts with their Pakistani counterparts. In recent months the Border Security Forces came to know of very novel and strange ways adopted by drug traffickers for transhipment of the stuff.
J&K Police have a huge network to keep a vigil on trafficking of narcotics and pharmaceutical drugs. District Pulwama in South Kashmir is known for poppy cultivation. Many a time Revenue and Police authorities have destroyed the standing poppy crops to prevent popularising of drugs. Drug trafficking in the State has increased during the year 2016 in comparison of the year 2015. Daily Excelsior has obtained a copy of the report issued by police sources, and a comparison of two previous years shows that drug peddling is on increase in the State. During the period between January 1 and December 31, 2015 a total of 4282 kilograms of narcotic drugs were seized across Jammu and Kashmir and 588 cases were registered under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPSA) against 863 persons. This seizure included 75.282 kilograms of charas, 101 kilograms heroin/brown sugar, over 2 kilograms of opium etc. However, during the period between January 1 and December 31, 2016 the seizure of narcotic drugs was increased to 5393 kilograms. This includes over 180 kilograms of charas, 546 kilograms of fuki, 4161 kilograms of poppy straw, 148 kilograms of brown sugar, 25 kilograms of heroin, 8 kilograms of opium/powder and 133 kilograms of Ganja. Not only narcotics, huge quantity of pharmaceutical intoxicants were also seized during this period from different parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
This is highly disappointing state of affairs and we are greatly concerned about our youth who are vulnerable to drug addiction. We have always emphasized that more importance has to be given to control and disallow production and transportation of drugs than to its seizure. If the police personnel are rewarded officially for seizures, it is all right but disallowing production of narcotics is more important. Sometimes the law enforcing agencies of the Government are also accused of soft paddling with the culprits or sharing spoils with them. The point is that unfortunately our youth get addicted to drugs and then it ruins their life and families. Therefore, great responsibility devolves on the Government to save the youth from this ruinous course of things. It is important that all routes of smuggling drugs and pharmaceutical intoxicants are plugged. Anti narcotic laws should be made more stringent and exemplary punishment has to be given to those in particular who are found prompting the youth in educational institutions to get addicted to drugs. It has to be punished as a big anti-social act.
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