Hands that should be ploughing the fields, minds that should be busy in shaping the future of the country are busy injecting lethal cocktail of drugs, rolling up joints, sniffing it up, thereby damaging the brain irreparably.As you dig deeper, the drug menace in Punjab also gets dirtier, revealing shocking facts how the drugs enter the northern Indian state and how it is ruining the youth of the nation.
Thanks to the controversy surrounding Bollywood movie Udta Punjab, which addresses the issue, and special thanks to censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani that the issue of drug menace is now being talked about everywhere.
The severity of the drug problem can be gauged from the statistics that point out that 50 per cent of the drug-related cases in India are from Punjab alone.
As per the Punjab Opioid Dependence Survey (PODS), about 76% opioid dependent individuals in Punjab are in the age group of 18 to 35 years. The worst affected regions are Bathinda, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Moga, Patiala, Sangrur and Tarn Taran.
The most common opioid drug used by this group is heroin. Another village, which is on the outskirts of holy city of Amritsar, Maqboolpura has earned the sobriquet of ‘Village of Widows’ as almost every household here has lost breadwinners due to drugs.
One of the main reasons behind this growing menace is Punjab’s proximity to the Golden Crescent- Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, which are known to be the world’s largest producers of opium.
Meanwhile, the fight against drugs is not easy in Punjab. The number of drug de-addiction centres may be rising but there is no break in the supply chain.
To further understand the story, a documentary-GLUT: The Untold Story of Punjab-is a must watch.
The documentary by Smaran Sahu will reveal how deep-rooted is the issue and what are the challenges that the society is facing.
The documentary also throws light on how youth staying near border areas, in the presence of security forces, get SIM cards, coordinate with peddlers and get the drug.
It is just a matter of few hours and a person sitting in Delhi will get what he/she wants and there is no trail left.
Watch the documentary here:
(Video: YouTube)