NEW DELHI, Dec 16 : Observing drugs consumption in popular culture was propelling youngsters towards a dangerous lifestyle, one that incorrigibly applauded drugs use as “cool” and a “fashionable” display of camaraderie, the Supreme Court on Monday said the approach was not to demonise but to rehabilitate them.
A bench of Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh made the remark while pronouncing a judgment on the bail plea of a man accused in a case involving 500 kilogram of heroin smuggled from Pakistan to India.
“We implore the youth to take charge of their decisional autonomy and firmly resist peer pressure and desist from emulation of certain personalities who may be indulging in drugs,” the bench said.
The arc and web of drug trade cannot be permitted to corrode the shine of the youth of India, it noted further.
The apex court said the approach towards the victims of drug abuse must not be to demonise them but rehabilitation.
The top court was grieved to realise vulnerable children were turning to drugs as an escape from emotional distress and academic pressures or peer pressure and suggested not to consider drug abuse as taboo but engage in open discussions to tackle the issue.
“We would like to record our earnest disquiet about the proliferation of substance abuse in India. The ills of drug abuse seem to be shadowing the length and breadth of our country with the Central and every state government fighting against the menace of substance abuse,” it said.
The debilitating impact of drug trade and drug abuse is an immediate and serious concern for India, it added. “As the globe grapples with the menace of escalating substance use disorders (SUD) and an ever accessible drug market, the consequences leave a generational imprint on public health and even national security,” the bench said.
The apex court said it was state’s responsibility to address the root causes of this predicament and develop effective intervention strategies to ensure that India’s younger population, which was particularly vulnerable to substance abuse, was protected and saved from such menace.
“This is particularly because substance abuse is linked to social problems and can contribute to child maltreatment, spousal violence, and even property crime in a family,” it said.
The bench said despite the state’s efforts, an unprecedented scale of coordination and profit seeking had sustained the menace so hard-hitting and multi-faceted, causing sufferings across age groups, communities, and regions.
The top court said “worse than suffering and pain” was the endeavour to profit from it and use the proceeds for the committing of other crimes against society and the state such as conspiracy against the state and funding terrorist activities.
“Profits from drug trafficking are increasingly used for funding terrorism and supporting violence from heroin and synthetic drugs to prescription medication abuse, India is grappling with an expanding drug trade and a rising addiction crisis,” noted the bench.
The bench referred to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s 2019 report on the ‘Magnitude of Substance Usein India’ which revealed nearly 2.26 crore people use opioids in India and adult men bore the brunt of substance use disorders.
“After alcohol, cannabis and opioids are the next most commonly used substances in India. About 2.8 per cent of the population(3.1 crore individuals) reported having used cannabis and its products, of which 1.2 per cent (approximately 1.3 crore persons) was illegal cannabis and its products,” it said.
The court said the rate of opioid dependence was increasing at an alarming rate, partly due to the ongoing narcotic trade across the country’s borders and their consequent ease of availability.
According to the ministry’s 2019 report, there were approximately 77 lakh problem opioid users. The report defines “problem users” as those using the drug in harmful or dependent pattern in India.
“More than half of 77 Lakh problem opioid users in India are spread throughout the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, WestBengal, Rajasthan and Orissa,”it noted.
The bench said studies across the globe suggested that easy access to narcotic substances, peer pressure, and mental health challenges particularly in the context of academic pressure and family dysfunction could be significant contributors to this disturbing trend.
“Addiction at a young age can derail academic, professional and personal aims, leading to long-term socio-economic instability of almost an entire generation. The psychological impact of drug abuse, including depression, anxiety, and violent tendencies,further exacerbates the problem. The reasons behind this rise in juvenile addiction are complex,” it added.
The top court underscored prevention of drug addiction among adolescents required a “concerted effort” from multiple stakeholders, including parents and siblings, schools and the community.
“Given the disturbing rise in adolescent drug use, urgent interventions are needed. The MoSJE 2019 report found that only one among four persons suffering from dependence on illicit drugs had ever received any treatment and only one in twenty persons with illicit drug dependence ever received any in-patient treatment. Given the scale of the issue, there is need for a more comprehensive view of the solutions to the grave problem,” the bench said. (PTI)
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