Preventing drug abuse and illicit trafficking

Crackdown against illicit drug trafficking ordered by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and executed by the Assam Police has led to the seizure of huge quantities of drugs and arrest of over 1142 pedlars and dealers in just one and half month. Till June 23, Assam Police have registered 652 cases, seized 16.29 kilogrammes of heroin, 6687 kg of cannabis, 9.5 kg of opium, 6,42,447 YABA tablets, 1.9 kg of morphine, 57,591 bottles of cough syrup, 369 kg of poppy straw, Rs 79.91 lakh in cash, 6800 fake Indian currency notes and 13,630 foreign currencies. The quantities seized and arrest made reflect the worrying global trend of a spike in drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The Global Drug Report, 2021 published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveals that around 275 million people used drugs worldwide in the last year, recording an increase of 22 per cent from 2010. The Report brings out alarming facts despite evidence that cannabis use is harmful to health, most countries have reported a rise in the use of cannabis during the pandemic and in the last 24 years, cannabis potency has increased four times while the percentage of adolescents who perceive the drug as harmful has declined by 40 per cent. The theme of this year's International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is "Share facts on drugs. Save lives." The objective of the theme is to combat misinformation and promote sharing the facts on drugs — from health risks and solutions to tackling the world drug problem, to evidence-based prevention, treatment, and care. Shedding light on the alarming rise in the incidence of a drug use disorder, the World Drug Report reveals that about 5.5 per cent of the world population aged between 15 and 64 years have used drugs at least once in the past year, while 36.3 million people, or 13 per cent of the total number of persons who use drugs, suffer from drug use disorders. The Report highlights that more than 11 million people inject drugs of whom 1.4 million are living with HIV, 5.6 million with Hepatitis C and 1.2 million with both, sharing of needles increasing the disease risk. Media reports of drug overdose death in Assam need to be taken seriously before it peaks. The prevailing situation calls for a multi-pronged approach. Parallel to sustained crackdown against drug trafficking, aggressive awareness drive on health risks associated with illicit drug use, availability of treatment and care for rehabilitation is needed. The commendable achievement of the Assam Police has been possible because of commitment and the act of honesty exemplified by Home Guard Borsing Bey, who refused a huge bribe amount offered by drug dealers and helped the recovery of potent crystal methamphetamine drugs worth Rs 12 crore. Assam Government's decision to appoint Borsing as a constable in Assam Police will encourage the force to continue their operations with renewed vigour. The challenges in the fight against illicit trafficking, as revealed in the Report, are huge and may overshadow the achievements in no time if new threats emerging from pandemic effects and flourishing drug markets on the dark web are overlooked by the government and law-enforcing agencies. The report reveals that within a decade of their emergence on the dark web, major drug markets are now worth at least 315 million US dollars. The report sounded a caution that "although this is just a fraction of overall drug sales, the trend is upwards with a fourfold increase between 2011 to mid-2017 and mid-2017 to 2020." Drug markets on the dark web can expand with the spread of internet access to new geographies. The dark web or darknet is part of the deep web which have encrypted content on websites that are not indexed by search engines. Law enforcement agencies engaged in the fight against drug trafficking need to have teams of personnel specially trained to bust the websites in the darknet used by drug traffickers. The UNODC report flags the concern that food insecurity, loss of employment, livelihood due to pandemic disruptions may fuel illicit drug cultivation and production. New avenues of livelihood must be created, families in distress on account of a pandemic must be provided financial support to overcome the challenges to prevent them from falling prey to drug traffickers. The government and society playing a pro-active role in addressing mental health issues of children and youth that have become acute for many low-income households is an important component of a strategy to curb illicit trafficking. Ending stigma and discrimination towards addicted drug users are critical to ending the vicious cycle. Families, friends, and other members of the society including personnel of law enforcing agencies and healthcare providers extending helping hand and assuring that treatments are available to help people with addiction to come out of it will help them turn over a new leaf.