'Decriminalise consumption of drugs to cure Udta Punjab'

A leading independent think-tank involved in legal research strongly recommended that India should decriminalise drug consumption.

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'Decriminalise consumption of drugs to cure Udta Punjab'
The government of Punjab has taken stringent measures to tackle the drug menace in the state. (Picture for representation)

In Short

  • A legal research body recommended that India should decriminalise drug consumption
  • The body said punishments like 10 years of imprisonment has been counter-productive
  • Drug abuse can only be combated by focusing on early detection

As Punjab, Manipur, Mizoram and Assam battle rampant drug abuse among its populace, a leading independent think-tank involved in legal research on Wednesday strongly recommended that India should decriminalise drug consumption.

The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy in a report released on Wednesday said harsh punishments like 10 years of imprisonment has only been counter-productive.

Drug abuse can only be combated by focusing on early detection, proper psychiatric treatment and comprehensive rehabilitation.

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The report titled 'From Addict To Convict' is based on an analysis of 13,350 cases registered in Special Courts in the worst affected Punjab under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act between 2013 and 2015 and indepth field work and research. It said the present policy in India centered on criminalisation to curb drug addiction has failed to curb traffickers and ended up targeting users and addicts.

The blanket ban on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances has had many unintended but adverse consequences. It has promoted the use of hard drugs in some cases and given a fillip to smuggling and black marketing, it said. It says section 39 and 64A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act allows people caught with small quantities of drugs, or with drugs for personal consumption, to opt for de-addiction treatment in a government-approved centre instead of imprisonment or prosecution.

But responses to RTIs filed clearly establish that between 2013 and 2015, no person brought before the court in Punjab was directed to de-addiction and rehabilitation through the courts. Various interviews with judges and lawyers revealed that this provision for diverting addicts was mostly unknown to the legal practitioners and judges, it said.

"Strongly recommend that drug consumption be decriminalised, and a public health approach be adopted. The law should encourage diverting addicts through the non-punitive sections of the NDPS Act, regardless of whether they have been found with a small or intermediate quantity of drugs", said the report.

Justice Mukul Mudgal, Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana HC who was present at the report launch said, "the disparity that has emerged in the report is distressing. What is more distressing is the ignorance the judges show by sending the addicts to prisons instead of deaddiction centres. Long spells in prisons lead to interaction with hardened criminals and makes addicts hardened criminals as well. Commercial drug dealers are hardly convicted and this is something that needs to be reversed. Deterrence as a theory does not work."

The government of Punjab has taken stringent measures to tackle the drug menace in the state, but the smuggling networks continue to thrive.