CHANDIGARH: Drug abuse was a big issue in the 2014 parliamentary elections in Punjab and had dented the SAD-BJP alliance’s performance. In the run-up to the 2017 assembly elections, Congress claimed it would break the supply line of drugs within a month of coming to power. But despite efforts of enforcement agencies, the state’s drug problem continues unabated.This can be seen from the seizures made by different law enforcement agencies. In 2017, after the model code of conduct was announced on January 4, cash, drugs and alcohol worth Rs 127 crore had been seized over just a month. This included 11.92 kg of heroin and 2,342 kg of poppy husk. In comparison, during the model code of conduct from March 10 to April 11 this year, Rs 200 crore in contraband and cash was seized. This included 65 kg heroin, 3,808 kg poppy husk and 99 kg opium.In 2016 and 2017, a total of 18,215 FIRs were filed against offenders under the NDPS Act. Since April 2017, the number of FIRs filed has reached 23,869.Opium, also known as ‘doda’, and poppy husk, or ‘bhukki’, have traditionally been consumed by farmers and farm workers here. But in the last few years, ‘chitta’ (heroin) has arrived. In 2017, he oin sold at Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 per gram. Now the same amount costs Rs 3,500-Rs 5,000.There is a deep nexus between gangs and politicians. This came to the fore with the arrest of former deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jagdish Singh Bhola and the unearthing of a Rs 6,000-crore racket in 2013.“We keep getting demands from politicians to free their men caught peddling drugs. That has not changed in the last few years,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.In 2018, DGP-rank officer Siddharth Chattopadhyaya raised questions in the Punjab and Haryana high court on the alleged drugs links of then DGP Suresh Arora and incumbent state police head Dinkar Gupta. From June 2017 till date, over 13 policemen, from constables to inspectors, have been arrested and drugs as well as cash seized from them.The government itself claims a lot has been done on the front. “We have opened de-addiction and OOAT (Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment) centres. We have constituted anti-drug STF and involved civil society members. Vacant posts of psychiatrists and doctors have been filled and some more are being advertised. We have also finalised mental health rules to regulate de-addiction and rehabilitation centres,” said Punjab health and family welfare minister Brahm Mohindra.But the state opposition is unconvinced. “Smugglers change loyalty with change of government. Most arrested persons are peddlers; the big smugglers are out of reach of police. In a number of cases of influential smugglers, police submit weak evidence and they easily get bail,” said leader of opposition in the state assembly and AAP MLA from Dirba, Harpal Singh Cheema.Rehabilitation, too, remains a problem. The health department had in 2017 prepared a report highlighting lack of facilities and staff, rampant torture, illegal confinement and overcrowding of addicts at these centres, many of which also lack psychiatrists.A police team in Ropar had in October 2018 raided a private unregistered de-addiction centre, Jand Sahib Gurmukhi Academy, near Chamkaur Sahib, and released 200 patients who were being routinely beaten up. Some had broken limbs. There have been reports of private centres tying up addicts and torturing them, and of staff illegally supplying addicts with drugs.Doctors at de-addiction centres say that with the price of heroin going up, many suppliers have begun to take recourse to deadly concoctions that are cheaper than the unadulterated product. “Peddlers now even mix medicines and pesticides with heroin. Concoction of drugs starts when supply breaks down, triggering a rise in price,” explained Anti-drugs STF chief, ADGP Gurpreet Kaur Deo.“Peddlers mix talcum powder, Tramadol painkiller tablets and paracetamol tablets in heroin to increase the quantity. Since these are not soluble in blood like heroin, it clogs arteries and causes death,” Dr PD Garg, head of psychiatry department, Amritsar Government Medical College, said. Sometimes the addict takes ‘cut drugs’ through injections and the reaction is so fast that he does not even get time to take out the syringe from his body.Punjab state drug controller Dr Pradeep Kumar Mattu said the government has raided numerous chemist shops to check sale of medicines without prescription or licence. After already restricting sale of six chemical salts or medicines being misused by addicts, the state government is in the process of adding Tramadol tablets to the list.This, it is hoped, will help reduce availability of narcotic options to addicts. But it will take a long while yet for the situation to improve drastically.