Observing the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking do have a special meaning in the present Manipur, a state overrun by narco-terrorists and their affiliates pitting communities against each other in their bid to establish a safe haven for their business. However, much has been written about the shift of the operating base of drug cartels, widespread poppy cultivation and illicit trafficking of drugs.
We have written about how a once transit point for drug trafficking for drug cartels based in the infamous Golden Triangle moved further west and landed in Manipur, where drug traffickers and political movers shakers intermingle to facilitate the establishment of a major distribution point. One may never know how the cosy relationship between drug lords and the powers that came to be disturbed. But, the ‘War on Drugs’ certainly became a spoiler and everything went topsy turvy.
But, we shall be talking about the ‘drug abuse’ part today. Ever since the much vaunted ‘War on Drugs’ campaign started, the line between drug runners and users had become blurred. Even vigilante groups including youths loyal to the ruling party were on the warpath against drug addicts and small-time peddlers with police remaining as mere onlookers. They never bothered with the distinction between big time drug smugglers and petty dealers or drug addicts who were arrested with small amounts of drugs meant for consumption or how we should treat the drug addicts.
Drug addicts are no longer treated as the scum of the earth in the rest of the world. Rather, they are victims of the unrest and turmoil in our society beset with lack of opportunities, unemployment and corruption besides several other factors. However, the state seems to have become aware of this aspect. But there is still the need to drill this perspective among law enforcing agencies, self-proclaimed social reformers and the vigilantes.
The Manipur government’s commitment to open five state-run de-addiction centres in the state, was indeed noteworthy. There are 1.3 lakh drug addicts in the state as per government data. We would say, the move is not only to bring back drug users to the mainstream, but it is the state's recognition of drug users as victims and not as criminals. However, some private de addiction centres as reports found them running in a business model.
As reports say, there are more than 100 drug rehabilitation centres being run by private organizations in Manipur alone, and God knows how many of them are operating legally or with authorisation from the state Social Welfare department. One still shudders in remembering the wanton acts of cruelty and of moral debasement in de-addiction centres during the height of heroin addiction and widespread drug abuse by youths in the 80s and 90s.
In one particular de-addiction centre in the southern district of Churachandpur, addicts were chained like animals and made to wallow in mud and slime fully naked. In those days, addicts were tonsured and excommunicated by the society and the vigilante groups while the police were at wit’s end in dealing with the problem and most of the time they had no other option but to send the drug addicts to jail for a period of time as per the desire of the family. There was simply not a single protocol during those days for dealing with the drug addicts. It is the responsibility of the Social Welfare department to monitor the functioning of all de-addiction or rehabilitation centres in the state, and all those centres operating without proper sanction or expertise should be disbanded. According to international standards, a rehabilitation centre should have a Warden, at least a doctor on duty, trained counsellors probably from among reformed addicts and male nurses.
Besides, the centre should have entertainment and recreational facilities for the inmates. During the stay at the centre, it is absolutely required of the staff members to maintain close association with the family members of the inmate. The mission for bringing back the drug addicts into the mainstream must be followed and the rule-book or the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) established by the state authorities for operation and running of such rehab centres must be put into practice.
As per the SOP, if any drug user is picked up, he should be produced before the executive magistrate, and the verification should be done by a police officer who is not below the rank of a DSP. The drug user has every right to choose the rehabilitation centre, as per the protocol. However, the SOP is followed more in violation and concerned authorities simply do not seem to find time for monitoring these centres. In fact, rehab centres have become a booming business for some ex-addicts where the family is charged an amount ranging from Rs 8,000 to 12,000 per month for housing an inmate. In such circumstances, many more instances of torture and even death are bound to happen. Time for the state to act.
