Ganja smokers are making merry in the city as the police did not register a single case against ganja consumption in Visakhapatnam this year. While the police claim that it is difficult to track individuals carrying small quantities of ganja, there are allegations that the police take bribe and let the offenders go off the hook.
Joseph (name changed), a second year MBA student of a college near the beach road, said that three students, including himself, were consuming alcohol near the beach at Rushikonda IT SEZ on Tuesday at about 7 pm. The policemen on patrol duty on a road caught these students with some beer bottles and a ganja-filled cigarette. “We were trying the weed for the first time. The police demanded `5,000 for not registering a case against us. However, they left after payment of `3,000,” he said.
As per the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it is illegal for a person to produce, manufacture, cultivate, possess, sell, purchase, transport, store or consume any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. According to the SBX (Special Branch on Extremist activities), Visakhapatnam district police have seized 6,535 kg ganja worth `3.54 crore till last month this year and arrested 152 drug peddlers under the NDPS Act. The SBX data state that a large amount of ganja worth lakhs of rupees is being transported to various places and seized every year. But no case was registered against ganja consumers who are mostly found at places like railway station, secluded parks, Rushikonda beach stretch and other areas away from public areas.
Narsipatnam Excise and Prohibition department inspector Abdul Kaleem said worshippers of Lord Shiva and students are mostly found smoking ganja. He said that it was being mainly cultivated in agency areas of Paderu besides G Madugula. Earlier, drug peddlers from Tamil Nadu came to purchase ganja from Visakhapatnam agency and transported it to Tamil Nadu. However, now drug peddlers from Kancharapalem, NAD, Gajuwaka and Gnanapuram are also involved in transporting ganja from the agency area and to the city.
City Task Force inspector R Srinivas Rao said that both ganja transportation and smoking are illegal. However, no case has been registered as it is hard to trace out the smokers as they carry less quantity with them and blow it off within a couple of minutes.
The smokers or drug peddlers who violate the NDPS Act, will face punishment based on the quantity of the ganja seized from them. The police are trying to identify the vulnerable areas and intensify checking to take action against the ganja smokers in the city.