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Drug Abuse
President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday expressed concern over the drug addiction problem, saying it not only affects an individual but also the country and its economy as she underscored that doctors have an important role in freeing people from this scourge. Addressing the convocation ceremony of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, President Murmu also spoke about obesity and called for immediate steps to prevent it, saying the disease should not become an obstacle in the country's development. She asked researchers to develop accessible technology for cancer screening. In her address, the president said for citizens, AIIMS means the best and affordable treatment and for students, AIIMS means good facilities for higher education and research. To provide excellent tertiary healthcare at affordable cost and promote research and development in the medical field, many AIIMS have been established in the country, she said. Murmu said prestigious institutes like AIIMS mus
Drug trafficking is a serious crime and drug addiction is a "quasi pandemic", the Bombay High Court has said, stressing the need for authorities to scrupulously follow the mandated rules while arresting a person and during recovery procedure. People dealing in drugs in the society need to be dealt with an iron fist but it cannot be at the cost of liberty of an individual, a single bench of Justice Milind Jadhav said in an order passed on Tuesday. The court made the remarks while granting bail to four persons arrested in 2023 for alleged possession of medicinal drugs under provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The accused, while seeking bail, raised procedural irregularities by authorities when they were arrested and also while carrying out search of their residential premises. The bench in its order said the prosecuting agency has to strictly follow the procedure laid down in law during recovery procedure. "This is because the liberty of an accu
Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township has seen a rise in drug related crimes with 654 such cases being registered this year compared to 475 in 2023, a senior police official said on Thursday. The total value of contraband seized in these cases was Rs 33.27 crore against Rs 22.97 crore last year, according the official said citing the Navi Mumbai police's annual report. As many as 939 persons were arrested in 2024 for offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, compared to 811 last year, he said. Among those arrested, 58 were foreign nationals, predominantly Africans, marking a rise from 37 in 2023, the official said. The contraband seized from foreign nationals this year was valued at Rs 25.70 crore, an increase from Rs 11.61 crore in 2023. Among the seized drugs, cocaine accounted for the highest value at Rs 16.70 crore, a staggering increase from Rs 1.25 crore in 2023, the official said. The police seized mephedrone (MD) valued at Rs 12.67 crore, up f
The Supreme Court on Monday expressed concern over the illicit drugs trade substance abuse in the country and said there was a need to rehabilitate the youngsters affected instead of demonising them. A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said drug abuse should not be considered a taboo but an open discussion was required to tackle the issue. "We note our disquiet regarding substance abuse in India. Profits are being used to support terrorism and leading to violence. Academic pressure and family disturbances are also leading to the same, which is leading to long-term social and economic instability. Peer pressure, stress from academics and easy availability of drugs is a trigger and adolescents are also using it as emotional escapism," the bench said. "The youth must not follow those who resort to drug abuse and victims of substance abuse are not only limited to the downtrodden but cuts across economic barriers. We need not demonise the ones who have resorted
Seizures of the narcotic drug Methamphetamine have increased in the northeastern states of Assam and Mizoram in the current year, with the DRI confiscating 123 kg of the contraband during April-September. Methamphetamine, also known as 'ice' or 'crystal meth', has become a significant challenge for law enforcement agencies in India, particularly through the porous northeastern borders. According to a report by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the smuggling trend indicates that Methamphetamine is being illegally brought into India through sea routes in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. For smuggling, the drug is brought to coastal hamlets like Rameswaram, Tuticorin and Nagapattinam, concealed within specially designed compartments in buses, trains, or cars. From these locations, it is smuggled across the maritime border to Sri Lanka through mid-sea transfers involving Indian fishing boats. In the first half of FY 2024-25, DRI seized 123 kg of methamphetamine in 11 cas
Radical Sikh preacher and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh's brother Harpreet Singh has been apprehended by Jalandhar police in a drug case, a senior police official said on Friday. Harpreet Singh was nabbed along with another accomplice, identified as Lovepreet Singh alias Luv, by Jalandhar Rural police on Thursday evening, the official said. Four grams of ICE (methamphetamine) drug was recovered from him during checking of the car in which the duo was travelling, he said. The official said that Harpreet Singh is aged between 30-35 and "was into some dispatching work in transport". Both Harpreet Singh and Lovepreet Singh hail from Amritsar, he added. Amritpal Singh is currently lodged in a prison in Assam's Dibrugarh district for offences under the National Security Act (NSA). Recently, he was flown to Delhi on a four-day custody parole for taking oath as a Lok Sabha member. Having fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an independent, Amritpal Singh won from the Khadoor Sahib se
Leaders from the Opposition parties staged a protest against the Maharashtra government over the drug menace in the state, and alleged that some ministers were shielding drug racketeer Lalit Patil. Leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar faction and the Congress, gathered on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan here and raised slogans against the government. Leader of opposition in the legislative assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of opposition in the council Ambadas Danve, MLC Satej Patil and several other legislators took part in the protest. "The youth of Maharashtra is getting addicted to drugs, and the state is on the verge of becoming 'Udta Maharashtra' like 'Udta Punjab'," said Wadettiwar, referring to the 2016 Bollywood film about a drug crisis in the northern state. Talking to reporters, the Congress leader alleged that some ministers were shielding drug racketeer Lalit Patil and demanded action against
Expressing concern over rising use of e-cigarettes among youths, health experts on Wednesday warned that practising such vaping methods may lead to addiction to drugs like cocaine and nicotine. 'Mothers Against Vaping' (MAV), a platform of concerned mothers combatting vaping among youths, cited several studies and said these devices harbour around 900-2,000 chemicals and can penetrate deep into the lungs, causing extensive and detrimental respiratory damage. "There exists a looming threat of an entire generation becoming addicted to these new-age tobacco devices, posing a significant risk to their health and well-being," Gauhati Medical College and Hospital Superintendent Dr Abhijit Sarma told PTI. It is imperative to take urgent comprehensive action to prevent the emergence of a new generation of e-cigarette smokers, he added. "Alongside this concerning trend, another issue is that these devices become gateway devices to more serious addictions like using cocaine and nicotine," Dr
Ramesh Kumar started injecting heroin while working in Bikaner and remained hooked to the needle for five years, before he decided to go cold turkey. He battled the worst of pangs when he could not get his fix, at times spiralling into a debilitating despondence. Kumar is now on a steady yet precarious road to sobriety having seen the abysmal depths of heroin addiction. In Ganganagar, there are many like Kumar, who throng its deaddiction centres in the hope of recovery, having fallen prey to the drugs being brought into the district from across the border. With the state Assembly poll in the offing, locals in Ganganagar district, situated close to the India-Pakistan border, are pressing for a permanent solution to the drug menace. Kumar, who is undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation centre, urged the government to proactively work to end the drug abuse in the district. "I was addicted to heroin. I used to do job in Bikaner and my friends made me try it there. Initially, I tried