{"id":241202,"date":"2023-05-06T20:29:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-06T14:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=241202"},"modified":"2023-05-06T20:29:24","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T14:59:24","slug":"why-we-must-focus-on-curing-not-criminalising-drug-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/why-we-must-focus-on-curing-not-criminalising-drug-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we must focus on curing, not criminalising drug users"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>– The post is based on the article \u201cWhy we must focus on curing, not criminalising drug users\u201d <\/strong>published in \u201cThe Indian Express\u201d <\/strong>on 6th May 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS2- Government policies and interventions. Issues related to development and management of social sector<\/p>\n

Relevance:<\/strong> Drug abuse<\/p>\n

News- <\/strong>There are reports that Himachal Pradesh is considering joining Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh as states that have legalised cannabis cultivation.<\/p>\n

The production, manufacturing, possession, consumption, sale, purchase, transport and use<\/strong> of cannabis is prohibited and criminalised by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What are issues with the current approach to deal with drug abuse?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Criminalisation<\/strong> is used to deter the use of drugs. However, drug dependence<\/strong> has increased over the years across the world.<\/p>\n

In India, 3.1 crore people are reported to have used a cannabis product in the last 12 months and about 72 lakh people required help to address their cannabis dependency-related problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Criminalisation means long pre-trial incarceration and stigmatisation<\/strong> of users. They lack access to de-addiction centres<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The 2001 amendment to the law differentiates between those who possess a \u201csmall quantity\u201d of the drug and those found storing it in \u201ccommercial quantities’ ‘. This is a welcome step in distinguishing between \u201cdrug users” and \u201cdrug traffickers”.<\/p>\n

However, possession of the drug<\/strong> for personal consumption or consuming it for recreational purposes remains an offence under the Act. Such cases constitute 60% of the total NDPS cases reported in India .<\/p>\n

People who end up in jail often belong to the socially and economically vulnerable class<\/strong>. They constitute the majority of the undertrial prisoners<\/strong> under the NDPS Act.<\/p>\n

Putting drug users behind bars makes their rehabilitation<\/strong> difficult and exposes them to the risk of becoming peddlers.<\/p>\n

Rehabilitation of drug users is systematically replaced by the denial of bail and enforcement of jail terms and penalties. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The bail provision of the NDPS Act makes jail a rule, and bail an exception<\/strong>. The moral panic <\/strong>in society relating to drug use and abuse has an impact on the pre-trial procedure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The over-criminalisation<\/strong> of drug users undermines their social well-being. It results in the wastage of precious time of the criminal justice machinery.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the way forward to deal with drug abuse?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2021, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment recommended the decriminalisation <\/strong>of the possession of small quantities of drugs for personal consumption<\/strong>. Drug consumers should be treated as victims rather than culprits.<\/p>\n

The Ministry also suggested mandatory de-addiction and rehab facility<\/strong> for 30 days followed by mandatory community service<\/strong> for one year for drug addicts. The ministry\u2019s position was along the lines of the approach advocated by UN human rights experts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a need to focus on a public health approach<\/strong> to deal with drug addiction. Countries such as Portugal and Canada have demonstrated the efficacy of the public health approach.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Law enforcement agencies view drug users as offenders, whereas the public health systems focus on their well-being.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In India, Sikkim<\/strong> has tried to tackle the drug problem by differentiating between peddlers and consumers. It has tried to advance healthcare services to the most vulnerable drug users<\/strong>. The state\u2019s model of decriminalisation<\/strong> can be replicated at the national level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source– The post is based on the article \u201cWhy we must focus on curing, not criminalising drug users\u201d published in \u201cThe Indian Express\u201d on 6th May 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Government policies and interventions. Issues related to development and management of social sector Relevance: Drug abuse News- There are reports that Himachal Pradesh is considering joining… Continue reading Why we must focus on curing, not criminalising drug users<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10500],"class_list":["post-241202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}