Those who favour drug mafia are responsible for drug menace-Dr Gandhi
KS Diwan/ royalpatiala.in/ Patiala
Once again reiterating his demands to decriminalize the drug addicts, legalize and regulate the supply of opium and opium husk through government owned vends, Dr. Gandhi in a statement here today has slammed the political leaders, bureaucrats and police who are opposing this legalization demand and said that these people knowingly or unknowingly favouring drug mafia which is responsible for the entire drug menace in Punjab, which has taken toll of thousands of Punjabis ever since promulgation of NDPS Act of 1985.
The Patiala Member Parliament questioned the opponents of his demands to explain as to why there was no drug problem in Punjab 30 Yrs back when the common mans recreational substances like opium and opium husk were freely available in Punjab. The number of consumers was way less as of today and there was no health issue because of drugs in Punjab.
Justifying his stand Dr. Gandhi who has introduced NDPS Amendment Bill 2016 in the Parliament, asserted that it was the ban on these substance as well as criminalization of drug addicts which gave birth to a criminal gang of politician, corrupt police officials and other influential people, which led to aggressive marketing of not only of Opium and Opium husk but also other dangerous and lethal medical, synthetic and chemical nashas to maximize their profits in the multimillion crore illicit market and drug trade. It was this criminal gang which through aggressive marketing made all nashas available in every nook and corner of the state including schools and colleges.
Elaborating his argument further Dr. Gandhi said that United Nations which through a convention passed a resolution and is credited for an enacting Anti Drug law all over the world, has itself admitted in 2011 that the war on drugs has failed and this fact has been admitted by entire Europe and North America, and this goes onto prove that ban and harsh laws have produced results opposite to their professed goals. This is reflected in ten times increase in drug trade over the years creating a drug mafia wars across the continents. The result, number of drug users increased eight folds.
Now when more than 30 European countries and countries like Canada and North America have decriminalized drug and taken it out of hands of criminal illicit drug market lords and ensure pure and safe supply to its citizens why this approach cannot by applied to Punjab Dr. Gandhi questioned.
