Even as reports pour in about a rising drug tide in city colleges, the Excise Department appears to be in a fix over conducting raids on the affected campuses.
According to officials, there have been complaints about movement of luxury vehicles and outsiders on a couple of college campuses, especially during late nights. Based on these complaints, the sleuths have begun monitoring the developments at these locations round-the-clock.
“We have received several complaints from the college authorities on the drug abuse inside the campus or the students’ hostels. However, entering these campuses without a solid lead will be counter-productive if it does not result in seizure of huge volumes,’’ says Narayanankutty, Divisional Excise Deputy Commissioner, Ernakulam.
For the time being, the department focuses on plugging the routes through which drugs are entering these campuses. A decision on conducting searches, meanwhile, will be made only at a later stage.
Many of the vulnerable students start off by experimenting, fall prey to substance abuse and become addicts. In the initial stages, they even get free samples to experiment and later on, the addiction kicks in. A good number of students have also turned to drug peddling to fund their addiction. While ganja, known as the ‘poor man’s heaven’, is the commonly consumed drug, the fun-loving affluent teens pursue the ‘king’s habit’ and consume high-end drugs.
“If a student drug user is caught, usually a background check is done to see whether he is a first-timer or a habitual offender. If he is a beginner, we provide him with proper counselling and excuse him but the culprit is booked if he is a habitual offender,’’ the Deputy Commissioner explained.
The number of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Ernakulam Excise Range more than doubled to 270 cases during 2015 compared to 120 recorded in the previous year. The sleuths have registered about 201 cases so far this year.
