Ahmedabad: Police Chiefs Across Gujarat Asked to check Suspects For Drug Consumption With a brand new moveable speedy Drug check Kit; Addicts could also be Given an opportunity to Move Into Rehabilitation At A De-Addiction Centre under Police Scrutiny. With the Gujarat Police wheelwork up for a quelling on the outlaw drug market with its comprehensive Drug Action set up, one in all its most significant modules is to use advanced moveable technology to conduct on-site drug tests. Police Bhavan believes that whereas this could facilitate decide peddlers off the streets, it’s going to even be a deterrent against drug use by the youth. The procurance of kits is probably going to be completed by period.
Gujarat DGP Ashish Bhatia said, “We have asked Superintendents of all districts to procure these kits which are being provided at discounted rates, as a deterrent against drug use.”
Inspector General (IG) Subhash Trivedi, who heads the NDPS Cell at CID, told Mirror, “We started this project in Vadodara and now we are in the process of statewide procurement of drug kits which have two local manufacturers. These come in ‘6 panel, 9 panel and 12 panel kits’ that can identify the corresponding number of different drugs. Currently we are developing specifications required for our local conditions after which a budget allocation will be made by the Home Department, followed by purchase.”
Former MoS Home Pradipsinh Jadeja, during his visit to Vadodara last month, showed immense interest in the product.
In a pilot project initiated by Vadodara City Police just before the pandemic struck, 47 out of 100 people, most of them students, had tested positive for consumption of various drugs, using the Multi Drug Device Kit.
However, they were not prosecuted under the NDPS Act, but were rather given the option of going into rehab at a de-addiction centre.
Jaideep Jadeja, DCP Crime Branch of Vadodara City Police, said, “We ordered and used 100 Multi Drug Device Kit, a saliva-based compact device from a pharmaceutical company. It can detect up to 8 different drugs. Out of 100, 47 people tested positive for drug abuse including hard drugs around the university area. Instead of prosecuting these youths, we sent them for rehabilitation and they successfully completed it.”
Dr Sandeep Shah, HOD of Psychiatry at GMERS Gotri Civil Hospital in Vadodara said, “Most youth we see are users of marijuana which is the most available drug. For those who use a single substance, it is relatively easier to give up but more difficult for those who use multiple drugs over a long period of time.”
Dr Rakesh Gandhi at SSG Hospital Vadodara said, “Abuse of marijuana has increased, especially after the pandemic. The increase in cases has been due to loss of family members, financial or marital distress, and drastic changes in everyday life due to the pandemic.”
In 2020-21, the Government of India published a list of 272 districts under the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, that have a serious drug abuse problem and eight of them from Gujarat include Rajkot, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Vadodara, Mehsana and Porbandar.
Shailendra Kumar Mishra, Director of the Ahmedabad Zonal Unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), said, “We are concentrating on localised drug problems in each district and attempting to crack down on marijuana plantations in interior areas. Civilian and volunteer participation will aid in this project.”