A recent article on drugs in Punjab province of India looks into the question of why addiction is widespread seemingly regardless of social class or economic situation. It’s an interesting article from a local perspective.
With a little further research though, you start to realise just how big the issue of the drug trade is for the people of Punjab.
Punjab has a growing heroin problem and trafficking profits have attracted international profiteers from as far away as the UK.
It has also attracted many returning expatriated Indians who go back to the province to live the high life off their ill gotten drug trading fortunes from overseas.
Local youths who dream of making their fortunes overseas are also easy recruits for the drug traffickers of Punjab and other regions.
While the local government has recognised the problem (scroll down), meaningful official efforts to curb the various drug problems faced by the state are hard to come by.
With the massive scope of the problem readily apparent from even a cursory look at the news, one needs to wonder why government efforts have to date been so lax.
It’s then that a common problem among the poorer nation with major drug problems rears it head as a likely issue in Punjab:
“Groups involved in improving social issues say there exists a nexus of co-operation between people peddling drugs and the state. There is a lot of money to be made from drugs and corruption.”
Ahhh… nice to know some things never change.
