A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical or psychotropic is a chemical substance that changes brain function and results in alternations in perception, mood consciousness or behaviour. These substances may be used medically, recreationally, purposefully to improve performance or alter one’s consciousness, as entheogens, for ritual, spiritual, or shamanic purposes or for research.
Psychoactive drugs operate temporarily affecting a person’s neuro chemistry, which in turn causes changes in a person’s mood, cognition, perception and behaviour. There are many ways in which psychoactive drugs can affect the brain. Each drug has a specific action on one or more neuro transmitter or neuroreceptor in the brain.
Long-term use of drugs causes changes in brain’s chemical systems and circuits affecting important functions like learning, judgement, decision making, stress, memory, behaviour. Despite being aware of these harmful outcomes, many people, unfortunately get addicted to drugs and continue to take the drug which leads to addiction.
This addiction of drugs has become a major socio-cultural problem for the society. Over the years it has reached to a great proportion and time has come to counter this social menace more seriously so that younger generation can be rescued from getting trapped in the labyrinth. At times, it becomes so much of a problem that the person cannot live normally and suffer from various diseases affecting his/her personal life, family and ultimately society at large.
West Bengal Police has decided to deal with the problem on humanitarian ground to arouse consciousness among the people at large about the negative impact of drug addiction which spoils the future of the concerned persons, who cannot live normally, suffer from various diseases and become a liability for the society. WB Police accordingly observes June 26 every year as the “Anti-Drug” day to alert people about the ill effects of the “over dose of drugs.” Several NGOs are also associated with the awareness programme. This year however, the venue for the programme was selected at Howrah station on June 28 because of two consecutive holidays. DIG (Operations) CID, Nishat Parwez, Superintendent of Railway Police Niladri Chakraborty, S. S. CID Subhankar Bhattacharya, among others, were present at the function.
CID, West Bengal has made a short film named “BIVISIKARPRATIKAR” on the ill effects of drugs and the way out from such difficult phase of life. The film gives a vivid idea of the menace of drug users and the sufferings of the families associated with them. The film is being screened at various places.
West Bengal Police hold several rounds of coordination meetings throughout the year for sharing of intelligence, disposal of drugs, seizure, awareness programmes, etc. which have been conducted by CID, WB and the other State/Central organizations including the SSP of different districts. As a result we could be able to know about the kingpins, racketeers, dealers, peddlers related with NDPS cases. We have also arrested some kingpins and recovered a large quantity of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. We have also conducted several joint operations with NCB, Kolkata at Burdwan, South 24 Parganas, Birbhum, Malda and Nadia. Most affected police stations in the state are Samserganj, Suti, Raghunathganj, Lalgola, Bhagabangola, Ranitala, Raninagar and Jalangi of Murshidabad; Baishnab nagar and Kaliachak of Malda; Karimpur of Nadia; Bongaon of North 24 Parganas and Canning of South 24 Parganas.
Police raided at Raghunathganj and Berhampore in Murshidabad, Dankuni in Hooghly and Suri in Birbhum. They have seized 500 gms of Brown Sugar in Raghunathganj, 22 gms of Heroine from Berhampore, 137,000 bottles of 100 ml each of cough syrup containing Codeine Phosphate (Phensedyl) from Dankuni and 1,680 kgs of poppy straw. In Raghunathganj, SI Ashis Majumder of CID (HQ) raided a premise and apprehended three persons and lodged an FIR on June 22, 2017. In Berhampore, SI Biswajit Mondal of Narcotic Cell (CID) raided the house of Hilal Seikh of Mankara, Mohammadpur and apprehended four accused on December 1, 2016. A FIR was registered in this connection. In Dankuni, Inspector Krishnendu Ghosh, OC Narcotic raided at Mahabir Parking Plaza and apprehended four persons on December 1, 2016 and registered a complaint. Another raid was conducted in Suri area and two persons were apprehended in connection with poppy straw on November 28, 2016.
CID West Bengal has assumed upon itself the responsibility of making West Bengal “a zero poppy cultivation state”. It started with the collection of data about the actual persons involved, the main financiers and supporters of illicit poppy cultivation, understanding the economics behind poppy cultivation. Armed with the correct data, a strategy was evolved and some of the main kingpins in the business were arrested.
Awareness programmes were organised in the affected districts involving all stakeholders such as farmers, Panchayat representatives, District Administrative officials, and officials of Excise and Agriculture departments and Narcotic Control Bureau.
Atish Chatterjee, OC,
Narcotic Cell, CID
