HYDERABAD: Grass, pills, powders and vials; these colloquialisms may be heard more frequently as we approach the New Year. The drug trade is on a high keeping the police on their toes.
‘Molly’, ‘Blots’, ‘Charlie’ and ‘meow-meow’ are the street names of some of the drugs, rather easily available in the city.
Lysergic Acid Diathylamide (LSD) is a fast moving drug. It has a long lasting effect of upto 8 hours depending on the concentration, filled with visual hallucinations. This drug is relatively easy to procure and store as it comes in a small square shaped paper with no smell and it leaves no residue.
A similar effect is produced by another drug called Ecstasy that comes in the form of pills. This drug’s effects may not last as long as LSD but the energising affect it produces combined with the distortions in time makes it a hallucinogenic.
The cost of these drugs is set according to the regularity of rave parties. Drugs which are absorbed by sniffing or snorting into the nose like Cocaine and Mephedrone have a euphoric effect and kick in immediately unlike LSD and Ecstasy.
What makes these powders so addictive is that the body quickly develops a tolerance to the drugs asking for more in spite of the damage occurring to the nasal cavity. The cost of LSD is not more than Rs 2,000 but the price of Cocaine can be as high as Rs 8000 per gram. Mephedrone costs Rs 1,500 and Ecstasy pills cost Rs 2,500 each.
Procuring these drugs has become easier after youngsters entered the peddling scene. Graduate students, drop outs, software employees who can find a good investment and the right dealer from Goa or Bangalore are effortlessly ‘pushing’ drugs. Places like Attapur, Mahendra Hills and Gachibowli have become rendezvous points for such deals.
“Dealers use phones and Whatsapp for striking deals. Once the drugs are bought, youngsters go to rave parties on the city outskirts. Special teams are formed to identify and bust such parties,” said a Police officer from the Telangana Police Commissionerate.
Drug dealers in new avatar
The need to look for a guy in a hoodie and to talk a deal is not the trend anymore. The new age drug dealers build demand for themselves by personally delivering the ‘stuff’ at a convenient rendezvous point and finishing the deal in seconds. Using the right terms like 1 ‘G’ for one gram and ‘J’ for joints can get you past most dealers. With a secured network and thorough verifications one can become a part of the online drug market that delivers drugs discreetly.