Tag: drug

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann visits Golden Temple to launch a massive anti-drug campaign

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwat Mann led a special prayer session at Amritsar’s Golden Temple on Wednesday in a significant move against the pervasive drug menace in the state. CM Mann was accompanied by 40,000 students who gathered at the revered site to pray and pledge their commitment to a drug-free Punjab. The event marked a pivotal moment in the state’s battle against drug addiction, with Amritsar fully prepared for the launch of ‘The Hope Initiative’.

#WATCH | Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann visits Golden Temple in Amritsar. pic.twitter.com/DUTuqTmZp2

— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2023

Speaking to ANI, a student expressed the collective determination of the youth, stating, “All the school students have gathered here. We have come here to participate in the oath against drugs… Our CM Bhagwant Mann has put a lot of effort into making Punjab ‘Nasha Mukt’.”

Amritsar’s Police Commissioner, Naunihal Singh, told Hindustan Times that the event was poised to set new records with a gathering of over 40,000 students in person, along with a significant online presence. To ensure wider participation, the Amritsar police arranged live streaming of the events, urging online participants to upload virtual presentations of their involvement on the Amritsar Police website.

The initiative commenced with a vibrant walkathon led by students adorned in yellow turbans, symbolizing a sense of unity and purpose. The procession moved from the four gates of the walled city to the Darbar Sahib, where the ‘ardas’ was solemnly offered. At the conclusion of the prayer, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) distributed prasad to the participants, Singh added.

The Hope Initiative, driven by a resolute commitment to make Punjab drug-free by August 15 next year, represents a holistic approach adopted by the state administration. As a key component of this drive, the Amritsar police have planned a unique approach, organising gully cricket competitions from October 15 to November 9. These matches aim to inspire the youth and discourage them from succumbing to drug addiction.

The Hope Initiative revolves around three fundamental heritage values: piety, represented by the Golden Temple; sacrifice, symbolised by Jallianwala Bagh; and education, epitomised by Khalsa College. The three Ps—Pray, Pledge, Play—encapsulate these ideals and serve as the crux of the fight against drugs.

Under this initiative, the police are taking the youth to the Golden Temple for prayers, seeking divine intervention to eradicate drugs from Punjab. Visits to Jallianwala Bagh serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by heroes like Shaheed Udham Singh. The pledge component draws motivation from the sacrifices of national heroes like Shaheed Bhagat Singh, encouraging the youth to actively engage in the fight against drugs. Additionally, the play aspect involves organising cricket matches in streets and stadiums across the district, fostering teamwork and healthy competition among the participants.

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Drug shortages & strengthening supply chain are critical issues for the US

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The FDA chief, Dr. Robert Califf has identified drug shortages and the need to strengthen the drug supply chain as significant priorities. The issue of drug shortages has reached critical levels in the US, with approximately 309 drugs facing shortages as of the end of July this year, nearing record highs.

These shortages are causing disruptions in critical medical treatments, leading to delays, cancellations, and the rationing of treatments. Some healthcare facilities are even paying significantly higher prices, up to 10 times more, for key drugs.

Drug shortages can be due to a variety of factors including production delays, limited availability of raw materials, and external incidents such as natural disasters. For example, a tornado that struck a Pfizer plant earlier this year in the US, although expected to be resolved, had the potential to cause shortages.

One of the key reasons for drug shortages is also quality issues faced by facilities resulting in delays in product launches and supply disruptions.

Indian pharmaceutical companies play a vital role in the generic drug supply chain. The $25 billion industry currently has over 500 US approved plants— the largest number outside of the US— and manufactures around 40 percent of generic drugs consumed in US.

For example, the shortage of 2 widely used chemotherapy drugs— cisplatin and carboplatin— in the US are linked to the compliance issues faced by Intas Pharma’s Gujarat facility. The plant which was slapped with an Import Alert but allowed to supply 24 critical drugs is responsible for over half of the US’s supply of these two staple drugs.

While not commenting directly on whether non-compliance of Indian facilities is one of the reasons causing the drug shortages, the FDA chief believes the key issue is that generic drugs in general have low margins.

He points out that after a drug goes generic, the competition comes down to price. Because of the steep price competition, the FDA chief believes that it becomes difficult for companies to invest in technology and people, This, in turn, leads to compliance issues and drug shortages.

One of the areas which now command attention due to the drug shortages is to strengthen the supply chain. Dr Califf said there is a growing focus in the US on making the supply chain more resilient, this along with the subject of drug shortages is something that has taken up a large amount of FDA’s chief time in his second innings, more than he expected he points out.

Strengthening the supply chain involves reducing dependence on any one country, potentially leading to onshoring of manufacturing activities, the FDA chief noted. While India remains a critical part of the supply chain, the US may explore diversifying sources of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished dosage forms, he added.

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Delhi HC upholds Centre’s decision to include all medical devices as drugs

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Delhi High Court has upheld the Centre’s decision to include all medical devices within the ambit of “drug” under the law regulating drugs and cosmetics.

A bench headed by Justice Rajiv Shakdher rejected petitions by the Surgical Manufacturers and Traders Association challenging the central government’s 2018 and 2020 notifications first declaring four medical devices as “drugs” under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, and then spreading the net to cover all medical devices.

The court said the decision to include all medical devices as “drugs” was a policy matter and no case for interference was made out as there was no arbitrariness or unreasonableness.

“MHFW (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare), in its wisdom, thought it fit to bring all medical devices within the ambit of the expression ‘drug ‘. This is clearly a policy matter,” the bench, also comprising Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju, said in a recent order dated September 1.

“To our minds, there is no manifest arbitrariness or unreasonableness in the shift in policy of bringing all medical devices within the ambit of a regulatory regime. Our postscript is, if we were to allow the writ petitions, figuratively speaking, we would be throwing away the baby with the bathwater,” the court opined.

The authorities should, however, take measures to quickly iron out the kinks found while progressing the regulatory regime, the court said.

In 2018, the Centre had first brought four medical devices , i.e. nebuliser, blood pressure monitoring device, digital thermometer and glucometer, within the ambit of “drug”. In 2020, all medical devices were notified as “drugs”.

The court observed that the implementation of the policy was “calibrated” and gave ample time to the manufacturers, importers, sellers and distributors, to transition to a mandatory licensing regime.

“MHFW’s reasons are manifold, which include the desire to align itself with the international regulatory regime and to further the interest of the patients. Mere errors, if any, in the policy, which is otherwise robust and devised bearing in mind patient safety, cannot be upturned by the court while exercising the power of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution, unless it is a clear case of demonstrable violation of fundamental rights,” the court said.

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Singapore hangs first woman in 19 years after she was convicted of trafficking 31 grams of heroin

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Singapore conducted its first execution of a woman in 19 years on Friday and its second hanging this week for drug trafficking despite calls for the city-state to cease capital punishment for drug-related crimes.

Activists said another execution is set next week.

Saridewi Djamani, 45, had been sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking nearly 31 grams (1.09 ounces) of diamorphine, or pure heroin, the Central Narcotics Bureau said. Its statement said the amount was ‘sufficient to feed the addiction of about 370 abusers for a week’.

Singapore’s laws mandate the death penalty for anyone convicted of trafficking more than 500 grams (17.64 ounces) of cannabis and 15 grams (0.53 ounces) of heroin.

Djamani’s execution came two days after that of a Singaporean man, Mohammed Aziz Hussain, 56, for trafficking around 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of heroin.

The narcotics bureau said both prisoners were accorded due process, including appeals of their conviction and sentence and petition for presidential clemency.

Human rights groups, international activists and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug offenses and say there is increasing evidence it is ineffective as a deterrent. Singapore authorities insist capital punishment is important to halting drug demand and supply.

Human rights groups say it has executed 15 people for drug offenses since it resumed hangings in March 2022, an average of one a month.

Anti-death penalty activists said the last woman known to have been hanged in Singapore was 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen, also for drug trafficking, in 2004.

Transformative Justice Collective, a Singapore group which advocates for the abolishment of capital punishment, said a new execution notice has been issued to another prisoner for August, 3 — the fifth this year alone.

It said the prisoner is an ethnic Malay citizen who worked as a delivery driver before his arrest in 2016. He was convicted in 2019 for trafficking around 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of heroin, it said. The group said the man had maintained in his trial that he believed he was delivering contraband cigarettes for a friend he owed money and he didn’t verify the contents of the bag as he trusted his friend.

Although the court found he was merely a courier, the man still had to be given the mandatory death penalty, it said. The group ‘condemns, in the strongest terms, the state’s bloodthirsty streak’ and reiterated calls for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Critics say Singapore’s harsh policy merely punish low-level traffickers and couriers, who are typically recruited from marginalized groups with vulnerabilities. They say Singapore is also out of step with the trend of more countries moving away from capital punishment. Neighboring Thailand has legalized cannabis while Malaysia ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes this year.

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Why has substandard drugs and ethylene glycol contamination become so common

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Another Indian company has come under the scanner for substandard drugs. Nigerian drug regulator, the Nigerian National Food and Drug Administration, indicated that Mumbai-based SyneCare’s paracetamol drug PARA CLEAR SUSPENSION 125 contains the toxic substance, ethylene glycol. The product failed toxicity tests with the death of five lab animals being recorded. No human fatalities were associated with this event.

Reports of drug contamination in the past

SyneCare’s paracetamol joined the list of other Indian company’s whose drugs are said to contain these toxic substances. In the past, Maiden Pharma’s cough syrups was linked to the death of over 65 children in Gambia, while Marion Biotech’s cough syrup was linked to the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan. The Indian government however refuted allegations on Maiden Pharma.

The World Health Organization (WHO) had also issued an alert on a cough syrup manufactured by Punjab-based QP Pharmachem and marketed by Haryana-based Trillium Pharma.

Many instances of contamination with ethylene glycol and Diethylene glycol (DEG) were reportedly recently. As of January 2023, it was linked to at least seven countries and associated with more than 300 fatalities in three of these countries within a few months.

And, while India might have a number of companies which have been caught in the crossfire due to its large presence in the pharmaceutical industry, it is not just Indian companies linked to supplying drugs laced with these toxic substances.

For example, an alert was issued last year for Indonesian-made syrups which had allegedly poisoned more than 200 children in the country. Meanwhile, Cameroon’s health regulator was investigating the death of six children linked to a cough syrup which was reportedly manufactured by China’s Fraken Group.

Why this issue is so widespread

Experts said the issue is so widespread and difficult to identify because of the contamination in supply chains that are obscure and difficult to track. Pharmaceutical manufacturers generally obtain inputs from external suppliers. These inputs, most often than not, go untested, especially by the lower-quality pharma companies.

One theory also suggest that this contamination is because of the hike in prices of the generally-used safe input propylene glycol in 2021. Following the price rise, it was substituted, by some corrupt parties, with toxic alternatives such as ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol.

Some pharma companies too switched from pharma to chemical suppliers. For example, Indonesian authorities said one of the reasons for the contamination was that a local trader was selling the industrial-grade inputs as pharma-grade.

The fear is that there could be more incidents as one cannot track how much of the supply chain is infiltrated when it comes to both the inputs stored at warehouses to the finished products distributed. However, governments and agencies are becoming more proactive.

The WHO urged all countries to step up surveillance and offered support to those who lack resources. The US drug regulator also issued a guidance on testing high-risk drug components. An example of this pro-activeness was the latest case with SyneCare, in which the oral pain killer paracetamol was tested by Nigeria on behalf of Liberia.

India, too, has been turning the screws and cancelled licenses of 18 pharma companies which were allegedly manufacturing spurious drugs. The country also ordered testing of cough syrups at government labs before exporting them. In some instances, the government asked companies to stop procuring inputs from certain companies that supplied to companies linked to recent incidents.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Amit Shah lays foundation stone for Samriddhi Soudha in Bengaluru ahead of Karnataka polls

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday visited the cities of Bengaluru and Kommaghatta for a drug conference and to inaugurate development projects by the state Cooperative Ministry ahead of assembly polls in Karnataka this year. The BJP leader is likely to address a campaign rally too before travelling to Chhattisgarh.

Ahead of the minister’s visit, the Bengaluru Police issued a traffic advisory, recommending residents avoid certain roads to prevent congestion.

Conference on drug trafficking and national security

The BJP leader oversaw the destruction of 9,298 kgs of seized drugs valued at Rs 1,235 crore at the Regional Conference on Drug Trafficking and National Security hosted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Bengaluru.

Speaking at the conference, Shah said that security in the ocean needs to be strengthened as most narcotic drugs are being shipped from Pakistan and go via Iran to Sri Lanka and Africa.

He added a caveat that drug control is not the Centre’s fight but of the states, societies and citizens.

“We need to have a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach sparing none who are involved in drug trafficking,” Shah said.

The conference was attended by five southern states and three Union Territories including Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was also present.

Despite strong provisions in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, India is not implementing them effectively, Shah alleged.

“Please review it and find out how many properties of drug dealers have been confiscated, and how many of them have been jailed using these laws,” he urged the states.

He added that the detention of culprits was being taken very lightly and the administration was not “stern” enough.

“We should not take drug cases in isolation. We have to deal with it sensitively. You have to fight collectively through detection of drugs, destruction of networks, detention of culprits and rehabilitation of those addicted,” Shah said.

Tweeting about the conference, Shah said that the Ministry of Home Affairs was committed to realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a drug-free India and its zero-tolerance policy.

ALSO READ | Explained: What is causing the growing drug menace in India

Modi on June 1, 2022, had set a target of destroying 75,000 kgs of narcotics within 75 days, but India has already crossed that threshold having destroyed 5,94,620 kgs of seized drugs worth Rs 8,409 crore, the Press Information Bureau reports.

Prior to the conference, Shah met Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his son Vijayendra Yeddyurappa. The meeting holds significance with many political experts calling the move a “soft signal” to Vijayendra’s possible entrance into the Karnataka Election 2023.

Vijayendra has been a prominent figure in the BJP’s leadership in Karnataka and currently serves as the state vice president for the saffron party.

It was an honour to welcome our Hon’ble Home Minister & beloved leader Shri @AmitShah Ji today

Sir, meeting you is a great uplift to everyone’s morale & your words have always been a source of inspiration for us. pic.twitter.com/Yhny1s97Mj

— Vijayendra Yeddyurappa (@BYVijayendra) March 24, 2023

Inauguration of Sahakar Samriddhi Soudha and Cooperative Ministry projects

Shah, who also holds the cooperation portfolio, visited Kommaghatta village on the outskirts of Bengaluru where he will lay the foundation stone of the “Sahakara Samruddhi Soudha.” He also inaugurated various other programmes related to the ministry of cooperation.

Shah was received at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Airport in Bengaluru on Thursday night by Bommai.

ALSO READ | Karnataka election 2023: Yediyurappa assures of Lingayats’ support, says BJP never neglected me

BJP presence in Karnataka accelerates ahead of polls

According to BJP sources, he will visit the state once again on March 26.

In between Shah’s back-to-back visits on March 24 and 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend events in Bengaluru and Davangere on March 25.

Shah was in Bidar on March 3 to launch the ‘Vijaya Sankalpa Yatre’.

The BJP is trying hard to woo the electorate of Karnataka to return their government to power again in the assembly election, which is due in May this year.

With agency inputs.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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Lupin gets tentative US FDA approval for Obeticholic Acid Tablets

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Pharma major Lupin on Thursday announced that it has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA), Obeticholic Acid Tablets, 5 mg and 10 mg. Obeticholic acid tablets are used treat primary biliary cholangitis.

Lupin in an exchange filing said, “Company has received tentative U.S. FDA approval for its Abbreviated new Drug Application, Obeticholic Acid Tablets, 5 mg and 10 mg, to market a generic equivalent of Ocaliva Tablets, 5 mg and 10 mg, of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.”

Obeticholic Acid Tablets (RLD Ocaliva) had estimated annual sales of $255 million in the US (IQVIA MAT December 2022).

Also Read: Lupin’s partner Caplin Steriles gets US FDA nod for Thiamine Hydrochloride injection USP

Earlier on March 21, 2023, Lupin received US FDA Approval for Brexpiprazole Tablets that is used to treat certain mental/mood disorders.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Lupin develops and commercialises a wide range of branded and generic formulations, biotechnology products, and APIs in over 100 markets in the U.S., India, South Africa, and across the Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), Europe, and Middle East regions.

Shares of Lupin closed 1.53 percent lower at Rs 648.80 per share today on National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Also Read: Lupin receives USFDA’s nod for Brexpiprazole tablets

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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Herbal drug ‘BGR-34’ beats obesity along with diabetes, finds AIIMS study

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A team of doctors from the country’s premier health institute AIIMS, Delhi has found that anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug ‘BGR-34’ is effective in cutting down obesity along with improving metabolism mechanisms of patients afflicted with the chronic disease.

Led by Dr Sudhir Chandra Sarangi, Additional Professor, Department of Pharmacology AIIMS, the team reached this conclusion following a study spanning three years.

Comprising a range of ingredients from medicinal plants, this drug has been developed after an intensive research by scientists of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and is being marketed by AIMIL Pharmaceuticals.

The study was aimed to investigate whether BGR-34 was effective on its own or along with other allopathy drugs, and if yes, then at what level.

The results found that the herbal drug was enough not only in reduction of fasting blood sugar through modulation of hormonal profile along with a significant body weight reduction, but there were other benefits also.

The drug also modulates hormonal profile, lipid profile and triglyceride level while bringing down leptin mark which is effective in controlling fat. Triglyceride, in excess quantity, is harmful for the health as it is a bad cholesterol.

Similarly, controlled lipid profile keeps heart diseases at bay while disturbance in hormonal profile can result in poor sleep, noted the authors about the research based on various health parameters, according to the study.

In contrast, modulation of hormonal profile was found to be significant, resulting in increased insulin level. The study initiated in March 2019 will soon be published in a research journal.

Dr Sanchit Sharma, Executive Director, AIMIL Pharmaceutical said herbal-based ayurveda medicines are finding huge acceptance among people who are more keen into taking preventive health measures in the backdrop of rising non-communicable diseases due to lifestyle changes, among others.

To cater to this increasing demand, the government too has taken various measures to boost the availability of these products based on time-tested medicinal plants as immunity boosters. This will go a long way in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Healthy India’, he added.

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Over 47% antibiotic formulations used in India in 2019 unapproved: Lancet study

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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More than 47 percent of antibiotic formulations used in India’s private sector in 2019 were not approved by the central drug regulator, according to a study published in The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia.

The research also found that azithromycin 500mg tablet was the most consumed antibiotic formulation (7.6 per cent) in India, followed by cefixime 200 mg tablet (6.5 per cent) during the year.

The researchers at Boston University, US and Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, examined the private sector antibiotic use, which contributes to 8590 percent of the total consumption in India. The data were gathered from a panel of 9,000 stockists who store products from approximately 5,000 pharmaceutical companies.

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However, these data did not include the drugs dispensed through public facilities, though this is less than 1520 percent of all drug sales in the country as per studies and national health accounts estimates.

The researchers found a lower consumption rate of antibiotics compared to previous estimates but very high relative consumption of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which act against a wide range of disease-causing bacteria.

“The total defined daily dose (DDD) — the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug in adults — consumed in 2019 was 5,071 million (10.4 DDD/1,000/day),” they said.

The study shows that formulations listed in the national list of essential medicines (NLEM) contributed 49 percent while fixed-dose combinations (FDC) contributed 34 percent, and unapproved formulations were 47.1 percent.

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FDCs are the combinations of two or more active drugs in a single dosage form. “Centrally unapproved formulations accounted for 47.1 per cent (2,408 million) of total DDDs,” the authors of the study noted. “Cephalosporins, macrolides, and penicillins were the top three antibiotic classes among unapproved formulations,” they said.

The Watch group of antibiotics constituted 72.7 per cent of unapproved products and combinations discouraged by the World Health Organization (WHO) constituted 48.7 per cent of FDCs. Watch includes broad-spectrum antibiotics with a high chance of resistance to be used only for specific indications.

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“We do not have proper surveillance systems monitoring antibiotic usage in our country and irrational antibiotic usage is rampant,” said Dr. Hari Kishan Boorugu, Consultant Physician & Diabetologist, Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad.

“Problem lies at multiple levels — antibiotic usage by patients without prescription, irrational usage of antibiotics by quacks and even by many qualified doctors,” Boorugu told PTI. Inappropriate use of antibiotics is a significant driver of antibiotic resistance in India, the authors of the study noted in the journal.

“Largely unrestricted over-the-counter sales of most antibiotics, manufacturing and marketing of many FDC and overlap in regulatory powers between national and state-level agencies complicate antibiotics availability, sales, and consumption in the country,” they said.

The authors acknowledge some limitations to their study, including the fact that the dataset covers only the private sector sales of antibiotics and will not reflect the antibiotics dispensed through the public system.

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Also, the data do not differentiate between community and hospital use as the data are collected at the stockist level, they said. “Prevalence of multidrug resistant bacterial infection is high in many countries including India and irrational usage of antibiotics is a major driving factor for this menace,” Booruge explained.

“Unless we act now, soon we will be in a situation like pre-antibiotic era without effective antibiotics for treating most bacterial infections,” he added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: What is causing the growing drug menace in India

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Anti-Narcotics Cell of Mumbai Police seized 703kg of mephedrone from the Nalasopara area of the city, on August 4 in one of the biggest drug busts in recent years.

According to the police, the value of the seized drugs could be around Rs 1,400 crore. Five individuals, including a post-graduate in organic chemistry, have been arrested in this case.

Mephedrone, also called ‘meow meow’, MD, drone, White Magic, M-CAT, 4-MMC and 4-methylephedrone is banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

This massive drug haul is yet another big seizure of the contraband in recent months amid the rising number of similar cases across the country in recent months.

Also read: Around 100 million Indians consume drugs like cocaine and cannabis

In September 2021, authorities at the Mundra port of Gujarat seized nearly 3,000 kg of heroin worth over Rs 21,000 crore in the international market in the country’s largest ever drug haul.

The consignment of heroin was smuggled from Afghanistan. The port has remained a hotspot of drug seizures in recent months.

Just weeks ago, in another drug bust Punjab Police and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in a join operation seized nearly 75 kg of heroin worth Rs 375 crore from a container near Mundra port.

Around the same time, Navi Mumbai Police had also made a drug bust as they seized heroin weighing 72.518 kg worth Rs 362.59 crore after a tip-off from the Punjab Police.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials, on August 4, arrested a man in Bangalore involved with an international drug racket. The arrested individual was carrying 16 kg of heroin worth Rs 112 crore.

Since January 2021, the DRI has seized over 350kg of cocaine worth Rs 3,500 crore from multiple locations across the country in different operations.

Also read: Is addiction or substance-use disorder treatable? Here’s what experts say

Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director-General (Operations) at Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), had recently stated in an interview that substance abuse among the youth was increasing rapidly.

“I can say that the consumption of drugs among the youth is increasing. I am not sure about the exact number, but I think roughly around 10 crore (100 million) Indians consume drugs.

It used to be around 2 crore (20 million) 15 years ago. My sense is that, yes, drug consumption is increasing,” said Singh in an interview with Moneycontrol.com.

Data from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment estimates that the number of opioid users increased to 23 million in 2018, a 600 percent increase since 2004.

The Central government has stated that it has taken a strict policy towards narcotics and aimed to destroy 75,000 kg of drugs in the year to mark 75 years of Independence.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently destroyed 30,000 kg of drugs across four locations. Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the NCB has destroyed nearly 82,000kg of drugs and it will reach 1 lakh kg by August 15.

Also read: DRI seizes 62 kgs heroin worth Rs 434 crores at IGI Airport air cargo complex: Finance Ministry

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow