Signs of growing drug abuse, especially among children and the youth, has got the state government worried.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with 'No to Drugs' campaign brand ambassador Sourav Ganguly on 6 October. (PinarayiVijayan/Facebook)
On Sunday, 16 October, a youth in Kozhikode stabbed his parents. He was reportedly a drug addict and the violence was fomented by drug abuse. The situation was such that the police team had to fire in the air twice to subdue the youth and take him into custody. The incident left the parents as well as the youth injured.
The signs in Kerala are ominous: Daily drug seizures; arrests of youths for peddling; and the most worrying aspect — an increasing number of child addicts.
Sources in the state’s Excise Cell, the department tasked with prevention of drug-related offences, say schoolchildren are lured into trying out drugs, and once addicted, recruited as sellers among their peer groups.
Taking note of these signs, the state government has begun working to make Kerala free of drugs, launching yet another campaign — the “No to Drugs” campaign — on 6 October.
“We are not winding up our awareness programmes against alcohol abuse and drugs,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the launch of the drive.
“The ultimate aim is to protect children and youth from the drug mafia.”
Elaborating on the government’s thinking, an excise official said: “We see drugs as more than a public health concern, growing addictions can also rip apart our society.”
Officials say peddlers of late have begun changing their offerings, enticing children and young adults with synthetic drugs in innocuous forms such as tablets and powders.
“They are selling MDMA-laced edibles, vaporisers, oils and creams,” said an official. “All you need is a single rub, the effect could last hours.”
MDMA, or 3,4-methyl enedioxy methamphetamine, is a potent central nervous system stimulant primarily used for recreational purposes. It is commonly found in tablet or crystal form.
What is making it more challenging for the government agencies is that drug transactions are frequently contactless, with suppliers using the social media or mail to reach out to their targeted group.
“Sales take place via the dark web,” one official said. “Dealers reach out to their existing customers through certain links, codes, pages or closed groups.”
The physical deliveries are made by peddlers resembling delivery agents of e-commerce companies, who hang around schools.
Packets containing MDMA-laced edibles such as candies, or MDMA powder, crystals, solutions or tablets of the drugs are passed on to their contacts among the students.
“The final transaction takes place in the classrooms and school toilets,” the official said, referring to where the student “contacts” pass on the drugs to schoolmates.
At a discussion held under NavaKeralam, or New Kerala, banner on 10 October, Excise minister MB Rajesh noted that “some serious crimes” have been committed under the influence of drugs.
“Those who are involved in this are mostly youngsters,” he noted. “Some of the synthetic drugs they use could generate feelings of aggression and hostility.”
Data provided by the government in the state Assembly show an upward trend in the amount of cannabis and other drugs seized in Kerala, reflecting a spike in consumption.
While 4,968 cases were registered in 2020, this number rose to 5,680 in 2021, and a massive 8,294 in just the January-April period this year.
Dr Anish TS of the Community Medicine Department, Government Medical College, Manjeri, underlined for South First the health and socio-economic effect of drug abuse.
“Psychoactive drugs affect the body’s central nervous system. They could change the brain’s functionality. With its effect, one might quickly alter mood, perception, and consciousness,” he told South First.
“The psychological and social damage caused by these drugs is serious. The dissociative feelings it could generate might also influence one to conduct criminal acts.”
Officials say the drugs probably flow into Kerala from neighbouring states, with carriers using road, rail, as well as air transport.
“When we trace the routes of [the softer] drugs being seized, we often found they came from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha,” said an excise officer.
“In the case of synthetic drugs, they are from, Bangalore, Goa, and Chennai.”
According to Joint Excise Commissioner Gopakumar R, a majority of youngsters try the drugs for the first time out of curiosity or peer pressure.
“The curiosity factor is there,” Gopakumar told South First. “Then comes the influence of close friends. Out of their pressure, he or she often decides to try drugs for the first time.”
So how widespread is drug-use among Kerala’s young population?
Sources said a 2020 Excise Department survey among users, aged under 21 years, who had sought counselling at de-addiction centres, threw up some startling information. The department is not willing to reveal what this is till the minister makes an announcement.
The department is currently undertaking another survey in the state across all age groups to gauge the effectiveness of enforcement programmes.
The state is also said to be giving shape to a research programme to understand the drug usage pattern.
The “No to Drugs” campaign, the first phase of which will end on 1 November, will be carried out alongside existing ones.
At the launch, Chief Minister Vijayan dubbed the “No to Drugs” programme a “a people-centric campaign”, Vijayan said it will involve ward-level committees comprising workers from neighbourhood women’s group Kudumbashree, community health drive ASHA, and Anganwadi rural child care centres.
Altogether, 19,391 such committees have been formed.
In addition to that, committees will come up at the state-level, district-level, local body-level and educational institutional-level to coordinate the campaign activities.
Scheduled activities include training for one lakh teachers, excise and police personnel creating awareness among students, classroom debates at schools and colleges, awareness programmes for parent-teacher associations, and institutional development committees, debates at hostels, residents associations, anti-drug collectives at bus stands, markets, towns, railway stations, and lighting lamps on Diwali on 24 October.
The brand ambassador of the campaign is Sourav Ganguly, who stepped down as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India this month.
However, the programme has also attracted criticism from various quarters, including from the All Kerala Chemists and Drugs Association.
“Medicine shops can play a major role in addressing the drug menace, because youngsters try to purchase psychoactive drugs or strong cough syrups to get high,” association president AN Mohanakurup told South First.
“The government should have called us to discuss this campaign. However, on our own we have asked all members to ask for prescriptions before selling anything,” he said.
However, as the chief minister had pointed out at the campaign launch, “No to Drugs” is not the only awareness programme currently on in Kerala.
The first and foremost is the “Vimukthi Mission” anti-narcotics campaign, launched by the excise department in 2016.
Recently, the Kerala Police launched the “Yodhavu” programme to identify victims of drug and substance abuse at schools. This is in addition to anti-drug clubs in schools.
Among the other programmes are these committees that have been established in colleges under the Kerala University of Health Science to check drug usage among students: The “Nerkootam” committee and the “Sradha” committee, specifically for college hostels.
Efforts are on to establish similar committees at all arts and science colleges and colleges under the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University.
The government has decided to set up two more deaddiction centres at each district.
Two deaddiction centres have been proposed at Ernakulam and Kozhikode for women and children; these will be in addition to the one in operation at Thiruvananthapuram.
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