2019 – Posted in: Daily News

RISING DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered: Drug Abuse, Golden Triangle, Golden Crescent, Drugs in India

News Flash

Police launch a month-long awareness programme against drug abuse.

What

After conventional acts of terror, it is narco-terrorism that is happening in many parts of the country which is sandwiched between the “Golden Triangle” and the “Golden Crescent” of the international drug trade.

Golden Triangle (SE Asia)

The Golden Triangle is the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The name “Golden Triangle” was coined by the CIA.

Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent, it has been one of the largest opium-producing areas of the world, since the 1950s. Most of the world’s heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century when Afghanistan became the world’s largest producer.

Golden Crescent

The Golden Crescent is the name given to one of Asia’s two principal areas of illicit opium production (with the other being the Golden Triangle), located at the crossroads of Central, South, and Western Asia. This space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, whose mountainous peripheries define the crescent.

Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent

Narco-Terrorism

Narco-terrorism is understood to mean the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence.

Narcoterrorism is a term coined by former President Fernando Belaúnde Terry of Peru in 1983 when describing terrorist-type attacks against his nation’s anti-narcotics police.

Narco-Trafficking

Narcotic trafficking, the phenomenon, which, started, as an organized cross border crime has now emerged as a threat to nation states because of its diabolic alliance with terrorist groups.

The Golden Crescent is the largest producer of illicit opium. Afghanistan and Pakistan alone shared nearly 6000 metric tons of the total illicit production in 1999. It is a matter of serious concern to India because these drugs are the major source for funding Pak‐sponsored terrorism in this country. And also because India is the only licit supplier of opium to the international pharmaceutical industry.

Drugs in India

With an $ 800 billion annual turnovers, drug trade stands second in terms of the world’s GDP.
Punjab is the most affected by drug abuse.
Kerala that witnesses 14 suicidal deaths per million population due to drug abuse followed by Maharashtra.
In Kashmir valley, enemies have been pumping huge resources to expand the drug business.
over 85,000 youngsters, including 15,000 girls, were addicted to drugs in Kashmir valley.

Gateway drugs

If narcotic drug addiction has to reduce, the government should first curb gateway drugs — tobacco, alcohol, and Whitner.

The government should hike excise duty on tobacco products to at least 70 % as suggested by the United Nations.

International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is celebrated on the 26th of June every year.

Source: The Hindu

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