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Drug Laws in India

 


India has the world's second largest population making it one the biggest consumer of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances often known as ganja, charas, opium, lsd, cocaine etc. Due to lockdown the consumption was supposed to decline but instead it has increased significantly. Nearly 3.1 crore population of our country is a user of cannabis and approx. 1.08 people are users of sedatives. 1.20% of people from age 10 to 75 use cannabis, 0.11% people in the same age group use cocaine and 2.06% people of the same age group use opioids. This is massive abuse of drugs. According to Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 there were a total 22,000 deaths in India due to abuse or overdose of drugs and 80% of them were premature. A substantial amount of our country's population deals in consumption, sale, manufacturing, selling and possessing of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. To curb this NDPS Act plays a vital role. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was passed on 16 September in the year 1985 and it came into force on 14 November 1985. This act makes consumption, manufacturing, possessing, sale, procurement, store or transport of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances as illegal.  This act was subsequently amended in 1989, 2001 and in 2014. Under the NDPS act the Narcotics Control Bureau was set up in march 1986. It is a federal agency working to curb and combat illicit use and sale of drugs in India. NDPS act uses a list of International Nonproprietary names to ban and control all the substances. This act fulfils duty towards the convention signed by India; The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The NDPS act replaced Opium Acts and the Dangerous Drugs Act. For contravening small quantity of banned substance punishment is rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to 6 months, or with fine which may extend to ₹10,000 or with both for quantity less than commercial quantity but more than small quantity punishment is rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years and with fine which may extend to ₹1 lakh and for commercial quantity rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 10 years but which may extend to 20 years and shall also be liable to fine which shall not be less than ₹1 lakh but which may extend to ₹2 lakh. This is a grave felony and also attracts dire consequences. It is evident that marijuana has numerous medical benefits and it has a very effective effect on the patients as well. Marijuana is used in the treatment of Alzheimer's, ALS, cancer, Crohn's disease, epilepsy, seizures, hepatitis C, AIDS, glaucoma etc. Many countries have legalized used or marijuana Canada, Jamaica, Netherland, Colombia etc. Many countries have legalized marijuana for medical purposes only. Apart from legalization countries like Canada and Netherland have a very robust mechanism for the regulation of marijuana and have lesser population. But in a country like India where there is a massive population it is extremely difficult to regulate marijuana even for medical purposes only. Recently at Chennai airport heroine worth 70 crore was apprehended from a woman trying to smuggle from Zimbabwe. 100 crore worth cocaine seized in Chandigarh. Charas worth 11 lakh was smuggled from Manali to Pune. Such instances are very frequent. It will be a huge and speculative step if the government legalizes marijuana. Even though it has medical benefits but is mostly abused by people for pleasure. Illicit and excessive use of drugs can cause fatal and permanent diseases like mental disorder, schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder, anxiety etc. It can also damage a person’s posterity as well. Inclination towards such drugs and substances has incessantly risen and will continue to rise. We need vehement support of the government and a robust system to have a strong hold on the regulation of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

-By Bhuwaneshi Gupta

 

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