#dnaEdit: The drug menace

Oscar Wilde’s insight — Youth is wasted on the young — aptly describes the growing number of drug addicts in Mumbai. For a few hours of cheap thrill — induced by toxic chemical substances — youngsters are throwing their lives away. It could be ecstasy, cocaine, mandrax, mephedrone (popularly known as Meow Meow or M-cat) and crystal meth. Costing a fraction of cocaine, mephedrone (used in plant fertilisers) and Meth, a deadly brew of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, are popular among school and college-goers, and a staple at rave parties. The ingredients are legal, hence widely available, and the drugs themselves are easy to prepare. The most popular herbal high is, of course, ganja, that enjoys the ill-deserved reputation of stoking creative faculties.

While it is impossible to find the exact number of addicts in the financial capital, back in 2010, Maharashtra had the largest number of drug-users registering for treatment. Today, the number of druggies has seen an exponential rise, evident from a constant stream of reports of drug-seizures in the media. According to the data provided by the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC), in the first six months of 2014, drugs worth Rs1.4 crore have been seized — registering a 40 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period last year. The 4,867 cases registered till June for both possession and consumption of drugs signify an eight-fold increase from the 604 cases in the same period in 2013. What’s worse is that harsher punishment under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2014, hasn’t deterred peddlers and users. For instance, they now face a year’s imprisonment — earlier it was six months — for possessing small quantities: as little as 2 grams for drugs like amphetamine, cocaine and methamphetamine.

In Mumbai, it’s not just the uber rich and the upwardly mobile middle class who indulge in substance abuse; there is yet another vulnerable group dwelling on the other side of the economic divide comprising homeless children and those from the slums. An Assocham report says nearly 35 per cent of street kids in India are addicted.

Jolted by the pervasive influence of drugs in cities and towns across India, the Centre, in a submission to the Delhi high court in early July, has promised to carry out an advanced survey that will gauge the pattern, trend and extent of abuse among the citizens. It will begin with a pilot survey in Punjab and Manipur — the two worst affected states. 

Mumbai’s drug menace is symptomatic of the crises in urban life. In nuclear families, working parents with little time to spare for their children, often try to compensate with generous pocket allowances. Flush with money and plagued by loneliness, drugs become an easy option. More often than not, peer pressure and the lure of a fast life often act as triggers.

Despite growing awareness, the war against drugs suffers from serious logistical problems. The ANC’s staff crunch and quality of manpower (most of them have poor knowledge about chemical substances) have ensured easy availability of intoxicants — cigarette shop owners and vegetable sellers have become peddlers. Moreover, since there is virtually no coordination among NCB, ANC and the Customs, the kingpins always elude the police net. Dearth of de-addiction centres and lack of means to integrate reformed drug-addicts into the mainstream only reflect half-hearted efforts.

The government has to act now as any further delay puts the city’s youth at even greater risk.