UNREASONABLY DRUG USAGE IN KERALA LEADING TO SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES: KERALA HC ISSUES DIRECTIONS
A division bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice AM Shaffique held that; unreasonably high drug usage in Kerala remarkably leads to economic underperformance, crime, health inequalities, and risk to children.
The division bench took a brief record of an agitating report of the state special branch. It reveals that drug abuse has an adverse effect on 400 institutions in the state. And, out of such educational institutions, 74.12% are schools, 20.89% are colleges and professional institutions, and 4.97% are other institutions.
Narcotic and Synthetic drug usage is pervasive among the student community, inhaling noxious chemicals like whitener, fevicol, ink, varnish solution used for repairing the tyre puncture. The Students use these chemicals for the purpose of intoxication. This would sometimes cause illness as well as damage to their body permanently. The court observes that the above substances do not come under the purview of the NDPS Act. Therefore we cannot take any legal action against the accused persons.
The directions issued by the Court are as follows:
- The State Governments shall adopt a method of establishing campus Police units. Because the law enforcement agencies are not conducting regular checking inside the educational institutions.
- The Government (state) shall take measures to make it easier for the police and the excise personnel to enforce the NDPS Act, 1985.
- The State Government should convene a meeting of all the key officials from the department of the Home Affairs, Excise, Health, Law, Education, and representatives of the State Mental Health Authority and Department of Social Justice, to ensure the reduction in the incidence of the substance abuse among the teenagers and youth.
- The State Government shall provide to the Universities/Schools/Colleges the charter of guidelines to make the educational institutions, drug-free.
- Rehabilitation and counseling mechanisms should be established by the police, to save the students who are already using drugs and addicts.
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