India is in the grip of a silent epidemic—drug abuse. Once considered a marginal issue, drug addiction has now permeated deep into the fabric of Indian society, from urban centres to remote villages. What was once seen as Punjab’s scourge has now taken alarming root in Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, and beyond. The time for denial is over. A coordinated, compassionate, and resolute national response is imperative to reclaim lives and safeguard the nation’s future.
The numbers speak volumes. In 2024, Kerala registered 27,701 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act—three times more than Punjab, which has long been synonymous with India’s drug problem. The southern state now reports 78 cases per lakh population, compared to Punjab’s 30. This is not an isolated spike. Over four years, Kerala saw a staggering 130% rise in drug-related cases, totalling 87,101. The high number of drug cases in Kerala may partly reflect more rigorous reporting and enforcement, unlike in many northern states where underreporting remains widespread.
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A societal unravelling
The crisis has grown more complex with the rise of synthetic drugs such as MDMA, LSD, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. These substances are not only more potent but also easier to smuggle across India’s porous borders. They are increasingly targeting children and first-time users, with schools and colleges becoming prime hunting grounds for traffickers.
Drug abuse is not a solitary affliction. Its repercussions tear through families, destabilise communities, and impose a crushing burden on public health and law enforcement. In Kerala, 30 of the 60 murders reported in the first two months of 2025 were linked to drug use. The wider pattern is equally disturbing—rising drug-fuelled crime, flourishing smuggling networks, and the exploitation of India’s long, under-policed coastline by international cartels.
The seriousness of the crisis was highlighted by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who recently described narcotics as the gravest internal threat to India. She called for urgent coordination between central and state law enforcement to protect educational institutions, but coordination remains weak, and follow-up after raids is sluggish and inconsistent.
Prevention, enforcement, rehabilitation
India needs a four-pronged approach: prevention, enforcement, rehabilitation, and community action. The starting point must be education. Substance-abuse awareness should be integrated into school curricula. Equipping the youth with knowledge and resistance strategies is essential to prevent early exposure.
Digital campaigns tailored for India’s tech-savvy young population can play a pivotal role. Community leaders—especially religious figures—must be brought into the fold to build a culture of vigilance and support. But while awareness can inoculate, it is enforcement that must contain.
India must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to drug trafficking. Coastal states like Kerala urgently need enhanced maritime policing. As of now, Kerala relies on a single Coast Guard vessel to monitor its long coastline—grossly inadequate given the scale of trafficking. Investment in real-time surveillance, AI-based detection tools, and seamless coordination between the Coast Guard, state police, and central agencies is non-negotiable.
Global lessons in tackling drug abuse
India need not start from scratch. Other nations offer proven models.
Portugal’s decriminalisation strategy, which treats drug use as a health issue, drastically reduced overdose deaths and HIV transmission by directing users to treatment instead of jails. Switzerland’s harm-reduction model—safe consumption rooms, heroin-assisted therapy—has cut crime and disease. India could consider pilot projects in high-risk states such as Kerala and Punjab.
The Netherlands shows how legal cannabis regulation and methadone access can reduce stigma and encourage recovery. India could expand opioid substitution therapy and reevaluate its cannabis laws, especially for medicinal use.
Japan’s success with strict enforcement and community involvement highlights the role of social vigilance. Kerala could replicate this by empowering local bodies and neighbourhood groups along its vulnerable coastal belt. The UK’s integrated, long-term national drug strategy combining health, policing, and social services offers a framework India could adapt with better central-state alignment.
Even Ukraine’s rights-based approach, rooted in voluntary treatment, provides a humane pathway for India to reduce coercive rehabilitation.
This is not merely a policy challenge—it is a national reckoning. Delay is not an option. Every day lost compounds the damage: young lives ruined, families broken, communities hollowed out.
Tackling the drug crisis must be treated as a moral and social imperative—not just a question of enforcement or governance. A fragmented approach will fail. What India needs is a unified, determined push to defend its future from the insidious grip of addiction.