Drug abuse among teenagers is a graver issue.
Is Bangalore becoming the safe zone for drug peddlers and smugglers is a question that one asks after going through the stats of the number of people convicted in Narcotics-related cases in the past years.
According to a report by Bangalore Mirror, the number of people convicted in cases related to drug misuse is abysmal and shockingly there have been zero convictions so far in the 204 cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act since 2014.
Out of the 204 cases register, the court acquitted two after it found evidence against them so fragile that they don’t stand the weight to even undergo a trial in the court. Leaving this aside the report accessed by Bangalore Mirror also says 115 cases are still in various stages of the investigation, some are in the very primary stage.
Women and Narcotics unit of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in 2016 have registered 93 narcotic cases but only four have been charge sheeted and the rest of the cases are said to be in various stages of the investigation, says the report.
Shockingly, in the Bangalore city alone, police have arrested 234 people in connection with smuggling and peddling of banned narcotic materials. But looking at the statistics of the last two years, it seems like the cases will never reach the completion as the authorities are moving in a snail-pace when it comes to the investigation of narcotic drug related cases.
There are also reports that youngsters from other states come to Bangalore to go high and startlingly many of them are teenagers who later become drug abusers.
Many studies have been conducted on the increasing number of teenagers becoming victims of drug peddlers. According to one such report, the reasons range from social anxiety, stress, nuclear family, split between parents and peer pressure.
One of the most important reasons cited by Psychologists is the communication gap between parent and children.
The drug abuse among teenagers is a graver issue as they will have to go through treatment for a prolonged period. Recently there were reports that teens have found cough syrup and Favicol-based products that have an acrid smell to go high.
“Building an NDPS case takes a lot of work and we always make it a point to ensure that we build a tight case against the accused,†said KV Sharath Chandra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) was quoted by Bangalore Mirror.
According to the report, there are many other factors that cause the delay in the conviction of the accused. The unavailability of witnesses during the court hearing, loopholes in the charge sheet, procedural delay in getting test results and the legal arguments put in by the prosecution and the defense, all makeup to the delay in conviction rate.
Interestingly, one police officer said to Bangalore Mirror that there were instances where the case failed to get courts approval just because there was no presence of a gazetted officer during the arrest of the drug dealers.
Another police officer was quoted saying that sometimes the scientific tests take five to six months, which makes the accused eligible for a bail as the charge sheet is supposed to be filed in 3 months’ time.
Finally, when an accused in out on bail the next time the police get a chance to see them might be when he is arrested during another raid, says one officer.