Govt: 21 deaths due to drug overdose this year

Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 9

Youths in the state continue to die due to drug overdose. Though news reports claim frequent deaths, the government has accepted 21 drug deaths in the first seven months this year.

Since April 2017, when the Congress government took over, 95 deaths due to drugs overdose have been confirmed by the government. The confirmation is made on the basis of forensic examination of samples taken from the deceased by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh.

As per the figures available from the state Home Department and the Punjab Police, 21 deaths due to drugs overdose have been confirmed till July 29 this year. In 2018, the figure was quite high at 70 confirmed deaths. However, in 2017, only four such deaths were reported. Officials and some experts on drug menace said the figure of 21 deaths this year may not be as high as of last year’s, but it was still alarming. “Even a single death due to drugs is worrisome. The government crackdown on drugs smuggling and abuse has brought in some changes, but we are still far from the ideal situation,” said an experts on drugs, who runs a private hospital.

He feared the number of deaths may be actually high as many cases go unreported due to fear of police or social backlash. The drug overdose deaths had created uproar last year when nearly 40 youths died in within three months (May-July) in different parts of the state. Since then, the subject has become politically sensitive also.

In 2017, only four drug overdose deaths were confirmed by the government.