Drug addicts more vulnerable to virus

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 18

People struggling with drug addiction are particularly at risk of contracting Coronavirus owing to their compromised immune systems. And if the virus reared its head in states like Himachal, where fighting the menace has emerged as a major challenge, the situation will be difficult to control.

OP Sharma, convener of the Nasha Nivaran Board, said drug addicts were more prone to infections due to the rotation of cigarettes and community sniffing of heroin-based drugs such as ‘chitta’.

“Chitta is being smuggled mainly from Delhi and peddlers come in contact with other people, including foreigners (Nigerians), in the process. There is a dire need to seal the borders and every vehicle should be checked”, he said.

DGP SR Mardi said strict vigil was being maintained on entry and exit points and suspicious people were on the radar. Cracking down on drug mafia was a continuous process and a huge quantity of drugs were being recovered. There was discernible increase in the number of accused arrested under the NDPS Act.

The DGP said people were being educated regarding personal hygiene and other necessary precautions such as maintaining distance to prevent the spread of the virus.

Breath analysers would not be used till April 15 and suspects of drunken driving would be taken for a medical examination, he added.

According to the police, a rise in the consumption of “chitta” is turning addicts into peddlers. The target group is teenagers for whom the expensive sedative drug is prohibitive and unaffordable, forcing addicts to “consume as well as sell the drug” to keep them afloat and widen the chain. The cost of ‘chitta’ is around Rs 4,000 per gram and most users were in the age group of 16 to 22 years.

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Alarming figures

Year — Cases registered (NDPS Act)

2016 — 929

2017 — 1010

2018 – 1342

2019 – 1439