As the Union government debates decriminalising consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, it is likely to bring in a policy where addicts and users will have to submit themselves before treatment centres and declare themselves as such in order to escape criminal prosecution.
In the past two years, the number of vulnerable districts (for drug use) have gone up from 272 to 372, with Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Goa, Chandigarh, Puducherry, and Tripura having 100% districts marked as vulnerable. These are followed by Uttarakhand and Punjab, where 92.30% and 86.95% districts have been marked vulnerable, respectively.
According to the substance usage survey conducted by the Social Justice Ministry through AIIMS in 2018, alcohol had emerged as the most used substance among adults at 17.1% prevalence. Apart from this, the survey showed that cannabis use had the highest prevalence at 3.30%, followed by opioids (2.10%), sedatives (1.21%), inhalants (0.58%) and cocaine (0.11%).
