Addicts in Punjab getting attracted to medicine-based drugs: NCB

New Delhi, July 6  

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Drug addicts in Punjab are gradually getting attracted to medicine-based drug concoctions following stepped-up clamp down on peddling of traditional narcotics, Home Minister Rajnath Singh was told on Wednesday.

At a review meeting with Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) here, the Home Minister discussed the narcotic scenario in Punjab and steps taken to check the incidents of drug abuse.

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NCB Director General Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar apprised Rajnath Singh about the changing drug abuse pattern in Punjab and stressed that the “increase in street price of opiates due to less availability as a result of increased enforcement activities by drug law agencies are making addicts shift to pharmaceutical preparations like Tramadol, Buprenorphene etc,” an official statement said.

Listing the steps taken to tackle the drug menace in Punjab, Bhatnagar told the Home Minister that the state police, BSF, Customs and NCB had taken various steps.

BSF had augmented its manpower in border areas and increased its vigil by deploying improved technical aids. The exchanges of fire in the border and recovery of drugs had also acted as a deterrent against traffickers.

Punjab Police had established a State Narcotic Control Bureau and an apex committee under the Chief Minister for holistic tackling of the problem. The Customs had also made recoveries of drugs in the border, he said.

The review meeting was in view of the BRICS heads of Drug Control Agencies 2nd Working Group Meeting scheduled to be held on July 8 here, the statement said.

The DG NCB made a presentation on the functioning of NCB, general drug scenario in the country and the ways and means for strengthening the drug law enforcement machinery.

He apprised the Home Minister that apart from traditional drugs like heroin and cannabis, newer drugs which were synthetic in nature were also entering the market.

Along with this, pharmaceutical drugs which were easily available and cheaper were now being abused widely. However, they did not fall under the purview of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act, the statement said. — PTI