The death of 21-year-old NRI Anmol Sarna after a ‘bad-trip’ due to drug — LSD — consumption in the national capital has once again lifted curtains off the murky world of drug and its increasing usage by middle class youth in the country.
Statistics provided by the Narcotics Control Bureau reveal the ugly pattern of increasing popularity of different party drugs — cocaine, ephedrine, amphetamine— in the country and the inability of the authorities and police forces to control it. Even though the NCB recovered 4,393kgs of ephedrine in 2012 and arrested 13,770 persons allegedly involved in drug trafficking or drug usage, the king pins of the trade are still roaming free.
“We end up nabbing the foot worker in the trafficking network. The big fish are either invisible or manage to get away due to loopholes in the system,” a senior official of NCB said.
In the last four years, the NCB has recovered only 2gms of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), that too in 2012, and arrested one person in the case. But the death of Sarna, who consumed LSD along with his friends, has once again exposed the lackadaisical approach of the law enforcement agencies.
While Sarna’s death, who returned from the US around seven months ago, is mired in controversy, his friends — Shivang, 20, Madhav Bhandaru, 20, Rhythm Girhotra, 20, and Pranil Shah, 20 — have been arrested under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for consuming drugs. They had managed to get LSD from Sector 18 of Noida for Rs 7000. The Delhi Police claims that it has identified the peddler network and would bust the racket soon.
Though the Delhi Police is making tall claims, it has not recovered a single gram of LSD since 2008. Police officials say the menace could be controlled only if the sources are exposed and plugged. “The peddlers we arrest often have no idea about the source. We are formalising a strategy to go after the big wigs. Then we will have hope of some success,” said a sen ior official of the Delhi Police.
Statistics also show that ephedrine and psuedo-ephedrine are now becoming more popular among party circles and drug users, as it is legal to manufacture the chemical for medical purposes. Traffickers could be arrested only if the chemical is being transported illegally.
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