Report No. 155

2.2. The menace of drug abuse.-

Drug addiction has become one of the curses of our times-a menace which threatens public health and results in the dissolution of human personality, promoting conditions for various forms of human degradation, whose consequences spread to crime and lawlessness.

One of its tragedies lies in its morbid assault on youth resulting more often than not in mental disorientation and emotional derangement, pushing the victim towards a fate from which there is seldom any hope of recovery. The evil is insidious and operates secretly and it often comes to be known to others only after the addict has crossed the point of no return.

The consequences are far-reaching, because in attacking the younger generation of a country, it destroys the flower of a nation's future. History provides many examples of the wilful subversion of a nation's culture - its social values and its integrity by the systematic corruption of its youth through smuggled drugs. The dangers following illicit traffic in narcotic drugs have been recognised worldwide, and so agitated is the conscience of the world community that they are now the subject of International Convention.1

For the effective implementation of legal and social measures to tackle the problem of drug addiction, it is necessary to ascertain the causes of drug addiction which can be detailed as under:

(a) Drug War.-The drug war is being fought by some other countries on our land with our men, money and our materials. The drug addicted boy is more prone to be a criminal and the examples are there that the Indian youths are being made drug addicts and then given drugs and weapons while sending them back to Indian territory to use the same to make more addicts and to create terrorist activities. Therefore, State action is required to check these activities.

(b) Organised gangs of the smugglers.-Drug addiction is the result of the work of gangs of smugglers who want to create demand for the supply of their narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and if the demand is more the prices for the narcotic drugs would be higher and in this way the smugglers also responsible for drug addiction. This type of activities of smugglers also requires strict action.

(c) Personal or family reasons.-There are some personal or family reasons leading to drug addiction which can be detailed as new experiment, curiosity, bad environment, lack of family care, lack of discipline, hippy or peer cult, to escaping from their realities of life and having some pleasure and thrilling experience. This type of drug addiction requires reformative approach to bring addicts back into the mainstream of life.2

1. See foreword of Mr. Justice R.S. Pathak, former Chief Justice of India and former Judge, International Court of Justice, to Barowalia's Commentary on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (1992).

2. Barowalia J.N.'s lecture in Nationa Seminar on Drug Abuse held in Sardar Vallabh Bahai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad (3rd May, 1974.) (Unpublished).