PATNA: Fifteen months after total prohibition was implemented in Bihar, the Nitish Kumar-led government has walked into danger zone. The state is slowly slipping into the clutches of a major drug crisis.
A huge black market for narcotic drugs is thriving and steadily expanding. The government is now making a multi-pronged strategy to contain the crisis before it explodes and turns into another Punjab.
At a roadside makeshift betel shop in Patna’s Kankarbagh area, cannabis (ganja) can be seen being sold in 25 gm and 50 gm pouches at Rs 600 and Rs 1,100 respectively.
“These are high-quality products, sourced directly from the north-east,” said the lanky shopkeeper. “Top professionals and college students are regular buyers,” he added. Charas, opium, and heroin are also available similarly.
“Stricter implementation of prohibition led to a sharp fall in availability of smuggled liquor. This led to a spike in ganja usage,” said a Narcotics Control Board (NCB) official.
De-addiction centres are seeing a fall in alcohol-related cases, while substance abuse cases are on the rise. “There was an 80 per cent drop in alcohol-related treatment cases in the past year,” said Deepak Kumar, general secretary of Disha De-Addiction and Rehabilitation Centre in Patna.
Seizures of narcotic drugs in Bihar are also at an all-time high. “We are keeping a stringent vigil along the Nepal border and also working in collaboration with state authorities,” said TN Singh, zonal director (Bihar and Jharkhand) of NCB.
