KOCHI: The increasing involvement of minors in ganja trade and abuse in the city and rural limits of the district is becoming a serious concern. Many school students are becoming addicts with the peddlers using their classmates as mules to make drugs available to them easily.
On the Drug Trail
On Thursday morning, Parassala police went on mission that took them to Kerala-Tamil nadu border. They were on the tracks of a Plus Two student from Parassala, who was on his way back from Chennai, where he had been admitted to a de-addiction center. They caught up with him at Kaliyikkavila on the border and took him into custody from a private bus.
Though the police denied that he was taken into custody, sources pointed out that the minor was a vital link in the growing ganja business in the border areas of the district.
The police released him after warning him of dire consequences if he goes back to the trade.
Sources said that peddlers used the minor to sell drugs to the high school and higher secondary students in and around Parassala.
“In fact, he was the key player in the ganja trade in the local area. He used to sell the stuff to his classmates. This is not an isolated incident. In many schools in the district, several students are taking up ganja trade. The law enforcers should stop students from getting entangled in the web woven by drug mafia,” said a social activist, on condition of anonymity.
Though enforcement agencies such as Anti-narcotic Squad, Anti-narcotic Cell, local police and excise are making efforts to curb the trade, there has been no dip in the cases since narcotic substances are easily available in city and rural areas.
As per the statistics of city police, a total of 176 NDPS cases have been registered in 2016 till April 30. Of these cases, around ten percent of cases were those registered against minors. In many of the cases, the police settle it quietly considering their age and future.
What causes students to go astray?
According to the police, lack of parental care is a common factor when it comes to students who get caught up in crime. Either the parents are too busy with their lives or they are not able to get across to their child
What the Law Says
Any juvenile who knowingly and without legal justification possesses a controlled or illegal substance can be charged with juvenile drug possession. These charges typically arise after, for example, a juvenile is pulled over by a police officer who then notices marijuana in the car, discovers drugs after searching the vehicle, or discovers drugs while interrogating the driver. While juveniles are often charged with this crime because they possess marijuana or other similar illegal drugs, possessing prescription drugs without a prescription can also lead to drug possession charge.
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