Drug addiction is a major social evil of modern times. It has transcended all barriers of caste, colour, creed, sex, and nation.

How did drug addiction come into the picture?

Drugs have been around in different forms since medieval times. There were always people in society who tried to sell this stuff to vulnerable people. However, it was only after the Industrial Revolution that this became a large-scale problem. After the Industrial Revolution, people around the globe started to migrate to cities in search of work. Joint families broke down into nuclear families, and consequently, every member of a family had to go to work to earn a livelihood. People started spending more time lonely than ever.

People left their children at home with a caretaker who could not instill good habits in them. As a result, it was obvious for the children to become victims of drug addiction. Not only the children but also people who couldn’t earn a livelihood became depressed and ended up being victims of drug addiction, thinking that consuming drugs relieved them of their gloomy lives. These people made others in their surroundings fall into addiction. This worsened over the years, and now we stand today with more than 300 million drug consumers in the world, with many more continuing to fall into this vicious trap.

The main problem with drug intoxication is that, once the person is into it, he/she become an addict. Some people take drugs out of curiosity or for the thrill they give them. Drug addiction causes a person’s body to become dependent on it, and this gradually increases the number of doses taken. A druggist suffers from agonising pain if he/she does not receive drugs on time. Even if the person understands his/her folly, it is almost impossible for him to give up drugs. It is just like being in a dark cave with all entrances blocked. And if this is not enough, then the second fact is that drugs are expensive. Hence, a drug addict spends all his money to buy them, and when he is bankrupt, he is attracted to stealing, dacoity, and other anti-social elements. Drugs destroy a person’s ability to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. It is similar to gambling, with the only difference that while gambling, the person is still in his/her right mind to make a choice, but with drug addiction? It won’t stop till it destroys you, your life, others’ lives around you, and the entire society.

Why is drug addiction not being stopped globally?

As I mentioned earlier, drugs are expensive. This means that there are people who earn money through the selling of drugs. These drug traffickers sell drugs to people, especially the youth, just to earn money. Drug trafficking is a big business, not in lakhs, but hundreds and thousands of crores. There exists an international network of drugs known as narco-terrorism.

When money is earned from the drug supply, it is obvious that this money will never be used for public welfare. This money is mostly used by terrorists and other such organizations to buy sophisticated weapons to spread their terror. For example:

1. A private jet carrying 700 kgs of cocaine was intercepted in the Dominican Republic, involving French military pilots
2. A ₹13000 crore cocaine and marijuana smuggling operation linked to a Dubai-based cartel was uncovered in Delhi in 2024
3. The INTERPOL shut down over 33 labs in South Africa, having drugs worth more than R1 billion
4. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in India has booked 109 cases involving over 8000 kgs of narcotic drugs since 2023
5. In 2022, authorities seized 1,466 kg of cocaine in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Niger, compared to an average of 13 kg between 2013 and 2020
6. In 2021, 3000 kg of drugs were seized in Gujarat, which came from Afghanistan.
7. Terrorists had raised funds by supplying drugs across Canada, Germany, and France. 200 Terrorists were arrested for supplying drugs several years ago.
8. There have been many instances in the world where drugs were being smuggled, although the traffickers were caught for their crimes. Mexico, the UK, the USA, Canada, Brazil, etc., are some countries where drug suppliers have been arrested.

These are just a few cases. The drug traffickers mostly target the youth as they form the backbone of a country. Besides, students who are far away from their parents in foreign countries easily fall prey to drug trafficking. It is important to inculcate certain values in the youth, which are important for them to live in harmony. Not only students, but children from rural areas who are not literate end up being a part of this nexus since they don’t have anyone to guide them.

Drug addiction is increasing in India. Official records show that around 8 crore Indians are victims of drug addiction. The drug peddlers do not target the people directly, but first, they corrupt their leaders either through bribes or, even better, by making them drug addicts as well, and with their help, these peddlers spread terror among the masses. Drug addiction is prevalent in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Manipur, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Haryana. Drug addiction is most dominant in Punjab, where, according to a recent analysis, 83% of the addicts have jobs; 99% of addicts are males, while 56% of the total addicts are from rural Punjab only. The largest number of heroin abusers was found in Uttar Pradesh (17.3%), followed by Delhi (16.3%), West Bengal (15 %), Manipur (10.1%), and Bihar (10%).

Although most people indulge in drug addiction themselves, some are forced to consume drugs, and this is true. There are people in the world who are forced to take drugs by peddlers who blackmail them or make murder threats to them, thus expanding their nexus. Believe it or not, but this is the truth: ‘Drug addiction is eating every country and making it hollow from the inside. We may not sense it now, but it will prove to be a major catastrophe in the near future. Drug addiction needs to be stopped at any cost.’

Although organizations like The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Anti-Narcotics Squads (ANS), International Drug Enforcement Agency (IDEA), Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI), etc., have been formed to cease the spread of drugs, drug smuggling and its consequent addiction is still a prevalent threat which as of now seems to be growing multifold.

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