At a time when the mainstream focus seems riveted to the politics, Gairsain Vidhan Sabha session, effects of demonetisation of `1000 and `500 currency notes and the political happenings in the run up to the 2017 Assembly polls, the phenomenon of substance abuse—especially that of unrefined heroin more commonly known as smack—appears to be spreading at an alarming level even climbing up the foothills apparently unnoticed by the authorities. Supplied mainly from neighbouring areas of Uttar Pradesh, smack/brown sugar- known by various ‘names’ in different areas is having the same effect on those who end up abusing it – destroying the individuals and their families apart from causing a general deterioration in law and order with youngsters looking to fund their next fix resorting to chain snatching other petty crimes and even serious crime at times. Observers point out that the trend of abusing unrefined heroin has received a fillip due to setting up of higher education institutions in towns like Dehradun in the Terai.
A considerable proportion of students in residential educational institutions in the major towns in the Terai like Dehradun has the potential to at least try illegal substances once though most stay away from hard drugs like smack. “However, there is a number of youngsters living in their homes or in rented accommodations who can afford to purchase costly hard drugs like smack, sold for thousands of rupees for a grammes. They are indulging in abusing this substance along with those on the other socio-economic spectrum- the lads from the socio-economically weaker sections of society along with the rural rich living in the suburban areas of cities like Dehradun.
The smuggling routes are common knowledge but changing market dynamics also results in frequent changes in customary routes and practices by the dealers and users peddling smack mainly to feed their own habit. From suburban localities and rural communities around Dehradun to Rudrapur and Kathogodam in the Kumaon region, the number of smack abusers has increased alarmingly in recent years.
However, with many of those newly introduced to substance abuse not knowing good from bad, it is common for such ‘novice’ buyers of smack to spend considerable amounts purchasing purported contraband spiked with anything from glucose powder and anti-anxiety medication pills to pesticide. These developments bode ill and if not checked in time, could worsen the socio-economical, law and order and the cultural-environmental state of Uttarakhand,” said an academician and recovered smack abuser wanting to remain anomymous.
Observers point out that though the state police claim to have arrested a notorious lady dealer of smack, the supply of unrefined heroin has by and large continued unabated in certain areas while the police focus on nabbing cannabis peddlers and even users reported to have been caught with just a few grammes of hashish.
An official wanting to remain anonymous states that along with the rising trend of alcohol abuse, the rising trend of smack addiction in different parts of the State including the cities, suburbs, rural areas and areas near industrial estates poses a major challenge to the State and its people. If effective action is not taken to stall the spread of smack addiction very soon, the situation may exacerbate further but the focus at present is mainly on aspects related directly or indirectly to politics and the coming Vidhan Sabha elections, said the official.