Advocating for decriminalisation of drug addicts and deregulation of recreational drugs, Patiala MP Dr Dharamveer Gandhi and Chancellor of Central University at Bathinda Dr Sardara Singh Johal on Sunday said that revocation of NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act, 1985 is the need of the hour as the provisions of the Act has done more harm than good to the state of Punjab.
Addressing a gathering at a seminar on drug abuse organized in Chandigarh, Dr Gandhi said “Banning of the common man’s recreation drugs brought cumbersome results for the state and instead of preventing people from drug abuse, it has provoked criminality in the society. “
Expressing the need for treating the drug addicts as victims or patients of the menace, Dr Gandhi said that provisions of NDPS Act make the victim, a criminal and the scope of his return to the mainstream ends once he is tagged with criminality.
He said that a categorization should have been done while the policy makers thought of banning the drug use and the ban on soft intoxicants paved way for flourishing of drug trafficking in the state.
Punjab is suffering from ‘ban, smuggle, promote’ syndrome. The indigenous intoxicants, which were available to people for Rs 300 before the ban, are sold at 10 times inflated rates of Rs 3000 to 4000. Many countries, like Portugal had done away with criminalizing the drug abuse and encouraging results have been witnessed there, he said.
Submitting measures to bring the state out of this menace, Dr S S Johal said that ‘Ban’ never brings positive results for preventing any problem as the human psyche tend people to do whatever is forbidden.
Quoting example of prohibition in Haryana, Dr Johal said that the prohibition in Haryana only had brought negative results for the people of the state and that is why people who sought prohibition earlier demanded its withdrawal later.
He said that unless the people use to grow opium and cannabies, people had hardly thought of a drugs scare in the state but the ban on the indigenous intoxicants, promoted the sale of medical and synthetic drugs in the state.
He added that instead of catching people who have got entrapped in this menace, Punjab needs to prevent that vulnerable group of youth that may fall a prey to this menace in the coming days.