HPAS/Allied Mains 2022 Answer Writing Challenge Day 24: Model Answer

Question: Discuss the reasons and impact of drug addiction in Himachal Pradesh. (8 Marks, 120 Words)

Answer: 

REASONS FOR DRUG ADDICTION

• Stress Buster
• Unemployment
• Peer pressure
• Fun or experiment
• Under influence
• Suffering and deprivation
• Drug cartels, crime syndicates and ultimately neighbouring countries which are the biggest supplier of drugs.
• Smuggling of drugs through the states like Punjab, Assam and Uttar Pradesh which share the border with neighbouring countries.
• Easy money and high margins the trade continues to offer. One dose of ‘Chitta’, which is just under a gram, costs Rs 500, a five-fold profit for the dealers. Initially, drug users finance the habit out of their pocket money or from borrowings.
• One reason for the drug menace is that Himachal is also a producer of drugs/narcotic

• IMPACTS OF DRUG ADDICTION IN H.P
• Teenagers or even adults in some cases starts stealing household goods and progressively turn to more serious crime to get money to purchase drugs.
• Many addicts suffer from serious memory lapse. Three youngsters died recently in Rohru and Theog due to the overdose of chitta, which has become a new rage among the youth of the apple belt.
• Teenagers from affluent families and even girls seem to be taking up drugs to overcome boredom.
• The spread of the drug menace in the state can be assessed from the fact that most of the users in Shimla and nearby towns of Theog, Rampur, Rohru and localities like Panthaghati, Sanjauli, Summerhill, Malyana, New Shimla and Krishna Nagar have now become peddlers.
• Small shops around educational institutions have become the hub of drugs (chitta) sales.
• Universities where a large number of foreigners are studying, is also turning into a new drug destination.
• The large presence of foreigners in high-altitudes of Kullu, Manali and Parvarti valleys has given locals a way to find international markets for their drugs.
• There are large tracts of land, mostly inaccessible forest belts in the hill regions, where people have taken-up illegal cultivation of cannabis and opium. Drives by the police to uproot illegal cannabis and opium crops in Kullu, Malana, a remote village and Manikaran valley have not stopped the flow impacting the good name of the state.