By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: East Khasi Hills district is likely to overtake Jaintia Hills in the number of drug users in the State. This is attributed to the fact that Shillong city is the hub for drug traffickers from across the region.
Pointing out that the state is located in close proximity with the Golden Triangle- that includes Myanmar from where the major inflow of drugs takes place, East Khasi Hills Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Vivek Syiem observed that much of these drugs find their way to Meghalaya and are patronised largely by the student community.
Syiem said that Shillong is the literally the trading point not only of drugs but also of weapons, stolen vehicles, pulsar engines, trafficking and other contraband.
Last year, the district police presented a 2011 district-wise statistic of drug abuse in the State which indicated that Jaintia Hills ranked first among the districts with as many as 5398 drugs users within the age group of 14 to 35 years. Jaintia Hills is followed by East Khasi Hills with 5113 users, Ri-Bhoi (2397), West Khasi Hills (1525), East Garo Hills (1500), West Garo Hills (1100), and South Garo Hills (800), taking the total to 17, 833 drug users in the State.
Syiem, however, mentioned that the trend is changing and there is a possibility that East Khasi Hills district might surpass Jaintia Hills since Shillong is a point of intersection of people from different parts of the north eastern states. He reiterated that drug abuse is showing an increasing trend here and there is a fear that the district might surpass Jaintia Hills in terms of attaining the highest number of drug users.
“Drug abuse in the capital city is rising with as several hundred cases being registered every year and this has given rise to deaths from overdose of drugs besides increasing the vulnerability of drug users to HIV/AIDS,” Syiem said.
The recent statistics received from the district police for the month of January till May, 2013 revealed that between these months, as many as 8 cases were detected by the police from areas like Madanrting, Nongthymmai and Jhalupara often considered as sensitive areas where drug peddlers usually make the transaction.
According to police records as many as 13 people were arrested from different areas of the city including Pynursla, out of whom, 10 of them were males and 3 were females.
Going by the total seizures made by the police during these months, about 83.97 grams of heroin, 224 numbers of Phensedyl cough syrup, 9596 tablets of Spasmoproxyvon, 200 tablets of Nitrosun, 20 tablets of Relepan, 170 tablets of Nitrazepam were seized.
Expressing difficulties in breaking the link between the drug peddling cartel, Syiem said “The peddlers adopt various strategies to transport these drugs across and change tack every time. Apart from women who are the primary carriers, even students and army personnel bring drugs into the State.”
Terming unemployment and the porous border as one of the many challenges to eradicate drug abuse, Syiem said “Unemployed youth are very vulnerable to substance abuse as they are exposed to it as a leisure or a time-killing method,” he said adding that drugs will continue to flow from the neighbouring countries if border patrolling and border fencing remains an unfinished agenda.
Coming to laws and punishments, The Addl SP (Crime) said drug-related cases are handled by the District Anti-Narcotics Task Force and such cases are registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances act, 1985. The punishments include imprisonment which could exceed 20 years and a fine of over Rs 2 lakh.