It demands comprehensive actions sans empty gestures and gimmicks.
What is the extent of drug menace in Punjab?
The challenges faced by the State are huge and in 2017 alone, the government arrested 18,977 peddlers and treated some 2 lakh addicts.
By some accounts as many as two-thirds of all households in Punjab have a drug addict in their midst.
Punjab’s prisons are overcrowded with drug-users and peddlers, and its streets and farms witness the easy availability of narcotics and opiates.
The sheer extent of the problem suggests it is more than just a few profiteers that have been responsible for causing this menace or helping to sustain it.
The scale of the menace indicates the existence of well-oiled machinery that has the secret support and collaboration of at least a few government officials.
How has the political response been?
The Punjab government has been piloting a strong crackdown on the drug menace that has become widely prevalent in the state. \
In this regard, recently an order was passed for conducting mandatory drug tests on all the 3.5 lakh government employees (including the police).
But this is expected to be little more than mere eye-catchy tokenism as the main demography trapped in drugs are unemployed youth.
Also, Punjab cabinet’s recommendation to recommend death for drug-peddlers is mere sensationalism rather than a concrete step.
Notably, capital punishment hasn’t proved an effective deterrent in previous instances and is anyway abhorrent.
What are the larger implications?
The “Golden Crescent Region” to the North-West of India (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan), is the major production destination for “Opium and Heroin”.
Drugs produced in this region, percolates into India through the border across Punjab and from here it tends to spread to elsewhere in the country.
The existence of this route indicates that those guarding Punjab’s 553-km border with Pakistan must take serious steps to plug the inflow.
Given the connection of drug trade with terror financing in the region, it is also critical in the national security point of view.
Border Security is beyond the Punjab government, and hence central policy coordinators need to strategise to control these narcotic inflows.
What is the way ahead?
A comprehensive war on drugs on several fronts is required.
This would include interventions in the community to spread awareness and foster a culture against the use of drugs.
The politicians have a very crucial role to play in resolving the crisis, and they need to think beyond party lines to achieve this.
Resorting to sensationalism to score political brownie points might only complicate the situation by dissuading real brainstorming.
