High Road to Perdition

KOCHI: The murder of a ten-year-old boy in broad daylight on a street in Kochi by a drug addict on Monday is a pointer to the rapid increase in drug abuse and its consequences.
The UDF's liquor policy , which resulted in closing down of bars and liquor availability , did not take into account the social and psychological impact it could have on a state with one of the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country .
The UDF manifesto seems to be glossing over this serious issue when it states that “due to various measures taken by the UDF , Kerala is becoming an alcohol and drug-free state.“
But data with the excise depart But data with the excise department shows that there has been an increase in the inflow of drugs following the implementation of the policy , contradicting the claims in the manifesto.
The department registered 970 cases in 2014 which increased to 1,425 cases last year. This year alone, 575 cases were registered till March 31.
The department seized 1,936 kg of ganja in the past one year and the excise sleuths say the users include youths and tipplers, who have shifted to drugs following the non-availability of alcohol.
“The consequences of substance abuse have already started reflecting in the public health and the law and order situation of our state. But unfortunately , alcohol and substance abuse still remain a low priority area for policy makers as well as the general public,'' said Johnson J Edayaranmula, honorary advisor of Subodham, a major campaign launched to help people in the state overcome alcohol, drug and other substance abuse.
No efforts have been made so far to address the grave situation, which has started impacting the social fabric of society.
“Instead of forming policies as per the requirements of a particular party or front, it is high time the policy makers think about the requirement of the society and its impact,“ said Johnson, also the director of Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC)-India and member of WHO-GOI advisory group on non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Interestingly, the state government in 2009 had brought out a detailed policy and master plan to reduce the supply and demand of recreational drugs, but it is yet to be implemented.
There were 57 recommendations in all to reduce their supply and demand.
“In the master plan, 37 of the 57 recommendations were on ways to curb supply of drugs. If at least 10 of them were implemented, the situation wouldn't have been so worse in the state, `' said a senior administrative officer with the home department.
Another issue is the poor coordination between the central and state agencies that deal with narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS) cases. The figures of NDPS cases registered in Kerala have gone up from 508 in the year 2008 to 4,105 last year. “The enforcement agencies are able to apprehend only around 20 per cent of the total supply ,“ admits a senior excise officer from Ernakulam district. A major share of ganja being sold in Kerala is grown in other states like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Sev Illust eral Keralitess who were into ganja cultivation have now moved to other states like Odisha.
“They are using migrant labourers as carriers for the business. This is mainly to cater the increas ing demand in Kerala“, said DIG (intelli gence) P Vijayan, who is also in charge of the anti-narcotic Squad.
DIG S Shyni and SPS of Koraput district in Odisha said that several Keralites are cur rently serving prison term after being arrested for culti vating ganja in rural parts Odisha. According to Vijayan, synthetic drugs too are becoming a major concern for various enforcement agencies combating narcotics in Kerala.
Psychiatrists say easy availability of money , permissive and non hierarchical parenting as reasons for this grim state of affairs.
“Youngsters start using drugs as a show-off and also due to peer pressure. Everyone, including media is promoting permissive parenting, however what our society needs is authoritative parenting,“ said Dr Philip John, a psychiatrist who counsels and treats cases related to drug ad diction.
John debunks the theory that the rise in drug use is due to the UDF's liquor policy . “It's the easy availability of the drugs. The demographic chang es Kerala has witnessed ­ 80 per cent of the carriers are migrant labourers ­ also play a role in it,“ he said.