Gurdaspur Red Cross rehab centre beacon of hope for addicts
With the footfall of addicts increasing with every passing day, the Red Cross de-addiction centre, the only worthwhile rehabilitation entity in the entire border district, is bursting at the seams.
Situated on the Gurdaspur-Sri Hargobindpur road, the centre has treated more than 90,000 addicts in both indoor and outdoor departments ever since its inception in 1991. It is supervised by the Centre’s Social Welfare Department.
The centre has thrived despite its repeated skirmishes with the state Health Department. The supply of anti-drug medicine — Buprenorphine — is controlled by the health authorities. This drug is always in need because the rehabilitation of an addict depends upon this medicine.
Project director Romesh Mahajan said, “The withdrawal effects of heroin can be countered only by Buprenorphine. If the addict does not get this medicine, he/she suffers acute pain. This continues till an antidote is found.”
He added that the age of addicts was between 18 and 40 and all of them were hooked on white powder.
The city has some private rehabilitation centres but all of them charge exorbitant rates for treatment while the Red Cross centre, charges nothing. It also provides free boarding and lodging facilities for ‘patients’, a euphemism for addicts. The recovery rate is much higher than private centres while the relapse rate is on the lower side.
Notwithstanding the hype being created over the ‘war on drugs’, the odds that heroin will stop flowing into the state remain abysmally low. Insiders claim for every drone that is downed, at least 10-12 drop contraband at pre-designated spots and safely return to their base in Pakistan. It is common knowledge that every third household in villages located near the border is addicted to heroin.
Officials claimed that the upsurge in addicts was due to the fact that Pakistan was regularly sending drone carrying payloads of heroin into border villages.
The yellow packets are often opened here for local consumption before the big-fish send the drug to Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Goa.
Almost everybody involved in the battle against drugs admit that till the drones keep on coming from across the border, there are absolutely no chances of winning the so-called ‘war’.
Instead of starting the ‘war on drugs’, a ‘war on drones’ should be started by the Punjab Police, BSF and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), if Punjab has to be drug-free.
So far, no antidote has been developed to counter the drones. The BSF is reporting at least four to six instances every week of drones dropping packets in border villages. Week after week an encore is being played out, such is the magnitude of the crisis.
