Users increasingly turning to synthetic drugs

Over the last few years, anti-drug authorities have observed both lower class and elite drug users increasingly use synthetic drugs due to their cheap availability. While certain chemical drugs still remain costly, some of them, which are manufactured secretly within the country, are seeing a strong user base due to their easy supply.

Officials said the number of sick industrial units, factories and underground labs in the country had risen in the past few years as they were being tapped by foreigners to produce drugs such as amphetamine, methamphetamine (commonly known as crystal meth) and ketamine which had gained massive popularity among city youth. An official from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said, “These drugs come as cheap as Rs 500 to Rs 600 per gram as compared to cocaine which costs more than Rs 1,500 per gram. They have the same psychotropic effect.”

However, no drug has caused as much damage as mephedrone with its addiction cases choking rehab centers and psychiatrists’ clinics as the drug remains unrecognised by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Mephedrone costs between Rs 200 and Rs 400 a gram.

Another NCB officer said, “There is massive pilfering in pharmaceutical laboratories in rural areas where the ‘controlled substance’ reaches sick industrial units used to produce the final banned or scheduled drug. Some foreigners have trained people in factories in the processes to produce the drug.”

This was proved after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence busted 1175 kg of the party drug ketamine worth Rs 118 crore at Rukhma Industries in Jalgaon district on Dec. 14, 2013.

The Ratnagiri police also busted three people who had pilfered 3.1 kg and '2.78 crore worth ketamine on May 24 last year.