Maybe India should look at this period as an enforced de-addiction time

While Kerala might have the most number of confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain that has put the entire nation under a lockdown mode, there has only been one confirmed death due to respiratory illness associated with the virus at the time of writing. However, according to a news story, ever since the lockdown came into effect, seven people have reportedly committed suicide due to the non-availability of alcohol in this State. This led to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan allowing the sale of limited alcohol to those people having withdrawal syndrome though they must provide a doctor’s prescription. One wonders how those, who want liquor in the State, will find the doctors to issue them prescriptions when the medical fraternity itself is overwhelmed treating Coronavirus patients. Moreover, it is questionable if a medical practitioner is allowed to prescribe alcohol as a medicine to treat de-addiction. It is not just Kerala, alcohol shops are shut down across the country with only some people lucky enough to have stocked up before the nation went into complete lockdown. The situation is similar elsewhere, too, with paan and cigarette shops shut in most places. Once a flourishing trade for recreational purposes, the sale of addictive drugs is also in lockdown with other vice trades equally badly hit. But not getting your daily dose of whatever your vice is should not be an opportunity to mope or moan. Whether it is not having your daily pack of smokes or two pegs of whisky, maybe people with an addiction should use the coming couple of weeks constructively and try and wean themselves off them. One would not make an argument to quit but attempts must be made to reduce consumption. It should not become the case that the day the lockdown ends, everybody rushes to the liquor store to get themselves some beer.

This newspaper understands that some individuals would have built up a physical addiction to drugs or alcohol. Such people must be helped in such times but the system, just like that for being out in public, must not be abused. And that is for the addictive substances available legally; the illegal drugs must be flushed out of India. Now with the borders closed and flights effectively banned, the inflow of such harmful substances has come to an end. Of course, this will not stay the case forever. The moment things open up, people will go back to their old ways. But even then, consuming a bit less may not be a bad thing for all involved.  If people can take this time to quit, all the better.