Crackdown on drugs

The massive crackdown on drug peddlers by the Assam Police in the past few weeks has evoked a very positive response among the people of the state. There is no second opinion that Assam has become a haven for drug peddlers and that hundreds of young people – school and college students, out-of-school youth, unemployed persons and so on – have fallen victim to this section of criminals. Hundreds of families have heaved a sigh of relief that the intense police crackdown has been able to considerably interrupt the clandestine supply chain of drugs, which in turn has saved their children from the addiction to narcotic drugs and various other psychotropic substances. Close to 500 persons have been arrested across the state and a huge quantity of drugs and other contraband have been seized. While the Assam Police have been doing a commendable job at the instance of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to conduct a massive crackdown on drug peddlers with a zero-tolerance attitude, what is also to be noted is that the State Anti-Drugs and Prohibition Council of Assam, created way back in 1974, has been practically lying defunct. The Council, an autonomous body formed under three different Acts – the Assam Liquor Prohibition Act of 1952, the Opium Prohibition Act of 1947, and the Assam Ganja & Bhang Prohibition Act of 1958 – has failed in its basic mandate of creating awareness against narcotic drugs and alcohol. The police have been thus forced to spend a major chunk of their valuable time and scarce resources in doing a duty that is primarily vested with the Prohibition Council. Another aspect that the government and society should consider is to look at the psychology and pattern of the drug peddlers. Who are the people who have been arrested in this statewide operation? What is their general educational and social background? What is the family background of these criminals? Is it a fact that the majority of them come from among the illegal migrants? What are the sources from where these criminals get the drug supply from? Is there any international connection? Why haven't the police got to the source of the supply chain?