Salil Gewali
When desire overwhelms the logical mind, human beings take the path of least resistance. This subsequently goads a person to go down the slippery slope of bad habits. Sometimes such wrong steps can be brutal and cost lives. While high society is now blindly groping in the darkness of materialism, a section of misguided youths are longing for a “quick fix” and so they are doping themselves with a range of intoxicants. Drugs with various combinations and names have penetrated so deeply into our society that Government agencies and its police force are caught between the devil and the deep sea. With cutting edge technology at our command the menace has only acquired serious dimensions. Any unsuspecting corner could be the hotspot even while WhatsApp and mobile messengers are the faithful interface. They easily help pull off the dope deal anytime.
Here, I squarely blame the culture that advocates personal freedom for youngsters at an age when they cannot distinguish between good and bad, decent from indecent and nectar from poison. Not just that, in the thick delusion of dope pleasure and its addiction, many have begun to see even their household members as their deadly enemies. The other day I read in the news that a father was beaten black and blue by his own son. The son, with his face masked did this only to snatch away the money which the father was carrying after drawing his monthly salary. Just look at the degree of desperation that drives the addicted to act so abnormally and with such cruelty. Procuring the addictive stuff is their only goal, no matter how; no matter what.
There are countless mothers who are constantly tormented by drug-dependent adolescent children. An increasing number of petty thefts, muggings, burglaries, lootings and a host of violent attacks, which often disrupt the peace in the society, have usually to do with those who have fallen victims to narcotics. It’s reported that in a span of one year there is about 30% rise in substance abuse in the state. The MLA of South Shillong Constituency, Sanbor Shullai in his informal meeting recently, lamented thus- “Unemployment is one of the main reasons for an upsurge in drug menace. The frustrated lot is quite prone to seek escape and take refuge in substances. I and many of my colleagues are very much disturbed by this development.” True, the saying — ‘the devil makes work for idle hands’ should always make the government and parents extra alert.
In this aspect what intensely upsets our police fraternity is the NDPS act (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) that lets off the addict/seller with less than 5 grams of drugs. This Act is being exploited to get the peddlers out of prison. Most of the hard-core peddlers, with the help of their lawyers peddle the stories of innocence too quickly and too easily. The addicted are caressed; hence a peddler pretends to be the addict!
Yes, with the increase in drug abuse and its adverse impact on society I would sincerely ask the law practitioners to throw ethics to the wind and put the soul up for sale! Many worried parents and also police officers have accounted how certain lawyers cleverly use the loopholes in the NDPS Act to save the cruel peddlers. Don’t the lawyers know it is the narcotic peddlers who usually entice our unsuspecting children with doses of opium first and then push them into the pit of no-return? Do the lawyers have no grown-up children at home who might in a twist of fate be caught up by such peddlers to teach them this dangerous habit?
The Jhalupara OC, who burns the midnight oil in arresting a good number of peddlers in two months, rues – “all those drug dealers were released on bail in no time. Many have again got into the same trade/habit. This fact alone discourages us to hunt around for the peddlers on a war footing. Besides, we also have to go through lengthy procedures and papers formalities before arresting any peddler.” This is the ground really directly from the horse’s mouth. Why does the Government not consider relieving the police of the work of gathering evidence and of maintaining the tedious paper work? For that let there be a separate cell with narcotics experts. The police job should end immediately with the arrest of the culprit. This way we can achieve better results, else, the society will be further afflicted with the scourge.
A concerned headman of Upper Mawprem, Johnny Kharmawlong thoughtfully says, “Parents these days feel happy about buying expensive mobile phones for their children. Do they really care to know what other detrimental activities their grown-up children are accomplishing through those devices? As far as my knowledge goes sending drug-related messages is only one of the many vices.” The Secretary of “Upper Mawprem Welfare Taskforce”, Deepak Wahlang, who has repeatedly asked me to write about the rise of drug menace, says, “All should join hands to contain the menace. The parents should not be complacent after sending their children to college and tuition armed with cell phones.”Indeed, Wahlang is very correct that the parents must be extra watchful now than ever before. The vices now come and attack us through the digital format but we have as yet not devised any counter mechanism to fight back this menace.