Expressing concern over the drug menace, Governor R N Ravi on Sunday flayed the Tamil Nadu Police, alleging that the state sleuths were unable to seize even one gram of synthetic drug, whereas their counterparts in Central agencies were recovering hundreds of kilograms in the state. Terming the prevalence of drugs among youngsters as a "serious problem", Ravi said the Government alone cannot eradicate it, but only through a mass movement it can be done.
"Our country is celebrating the festival of Navratri, and normally I do not move out of Chennai during these nine days to ensure that I attend the pooja in the evening at Raj Bhavan. However, when I was invited to this event, I decided I must not miss it. The issue of drugs is close to my heart. Because I have seen prosperous and happy families getting destroyed, society getting destroyed because of this drug," he said at an event in Tenkasi, 650 kms south of Chennai.
Citing some examples of the use of drugs, he said there are some states in the North East which suffer enormously because of it. "Even, we have a case in Punjab. Remember, till about 40 years back, it was the most advanced and front-ranking state in the country. Within three decades, drugs destroyed it and today it (Punjab) is struggling to come out of it (drug culture). There are many areas in our country which are affected by drugs. We must fight to finish it," he said, after inaugurating the 'Rally for a Drug-Free Tenkasi', organised by the Voice of Tenkasi Foundation.
The use of drugs in Tamil Nadu is also "very serious" and the synthetic drug is referred to as ganja here, but in Kerala or Karnataka it is called heroin, hashish or meth crystals, he said. Describing synthetic drugs as a "bigger threat", the Governor said opium, heroin, hashish and various kinds of synthetic drugs are highly addictive, and the victims are mostly young people, school and college students.
"What I am worried about our State is Central agencies have seized hundreds and hundreds of kilograms of synthetic and chemical drugs from different parts of our state. From the land, from the sea, from the airport, large amount of drugs, chemical and synthetic drugs are seized.
"Three years down the line, I have come across seizures of ganja, tons and tons of ganja seized but no synthetic nor chemical drug. How come Central agencies are able to seize hundreds of kilograms of these synthetic and chemical drugs, whereas our state enforcement agencies are not able to seize even one gram," he asked.
Soon after he assumed office in Tamil Nadu, the Governor said he invited the then Police chief and requested him to pay attention to the prevalence of drugs in the state. "This is a serious problem, because I have seen it with my own eyes. How a prosperous family, prosperous society completely gets destroyed. We must act tough," he said. Observing that the drugs comprise two aspects -- demand and supply -- he said that there are some countries which sustain themselves on money by supplying the drugs.
"We have the case of Afganisthan. They grow heroin, they grow opium and make heroin and other variants of it and push it in the international market. We know our western neighbours and their forces have been supplying drugs and getting money to run terrorism, which is called 'narco terrorism' involving billions and billions of dollars," he said.
With supply side pressure from the international market, the drugs are getting pushed into India as a transit route by the drug cartels, he said. "Initially they (drug cartels) said that India is only a transit route because it goes to Sri Lanka and other international countries. But, I think they have fooled us for long. While transiting into India, I think the whole amount of drugs does not get moved as we are becoming a drug consuming society," he claimed.
