In News:

• Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan has been cleared of all charges in the drugs on cruise case for which he spent 26 days in judicial custody.
• He was arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from a cruise ship off the Mumbai Coast in October 2021.

What’s in today’s article:

• About NCB (Functions, Provisions of NDPS Act)
• Constitutional, Legal Provisions w.r.t. drug abuse
• Initiatives/Programmes to fight drug abuse

Narcotics Control Bureau:

• The Narcotics Control Bureau was created in March 1986 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
• Functions:
  • Coordination among various Central and State Agencies engaged in drug law enforcement;
  • Assisting States in enhancing their drug law enforcement effort;
  • Collection and dissemination of intelligence;
  • Analysis of seizure data, study of trends and modus operandi;
  • Preparation of National Drug Enforcement Statistics;
  • Liaison with International agencies such as United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP), International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), INTERPOL, Customs Cooperation Council etc;
  • National contact point for intelligence and investigations
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Home Affairs

Constitutional Provisions:

• Article 47 of Constitution of India mandates a duty upon the State, wherein State shall raise the standard of living of people and improve the public health as well as shall endeavour to stop the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs which can be injurious to health except those which are made for medicinal purposes.

Provision for Punishment under NDPS Act, 1985:

• Minimum sentence for dealing in drugs – 10 years rigorous imprisonment coupled with Rs. 1 lakh fine;
• For repeated drug offenders – capital punishment can be given;
• For personal consumption – 6 months to 1 year imprisonment;
• No relief for drug convicts by – termination, remission, computation.

Landmark Judgements:

• Toofan Singh vs State of Tamil Nadu (2013):
  • Officers invested with powers under Section 53 of NDPS Act are “police officers”; confessional statement made to them are inadmissible as evidence.
• Gurdev Singh Vs State of Punjab (2021):
  • Poverty cannot be a mitigating Factor while awarding punishment under NDPS Act. & quantity of narcotic substance recovered is a relevant factor to impose punishment higher than the minimum punishment of 10 years.

What are small and commercial quantity of Narcotic drugs under the NDPS Act?

• Under the NDPS Act, a ‘small quantity’ means any quantity lesser than the quantity specified by the Central government.
  • For example, up to 100 gms of cannabis and 1000 g of ganja will count as a ‘small quantity’.
• Similarly, a ‘commercial quantity’ means any quantity greater than the quantity specified by the Central Government by notification in the official gazette.

Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act-2021:

• It amended the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and seeks to rectify a drafting “anomaly” created by a 2014 amendment to the parent legislation.
• Before the 2014 amendment, clause (viii-a) of Section 2 contained sub-clauses (i) to (v), which defined the term "illicit traffic".
• In 2014, the Act was amended and the clause number of the definition for such illicit activities was changed.
• However, the section (27A) on penalty for financing these illicit activities was not amended and continued to refer to the earlier clause number of the definition.
• The 2021 Amendment Act replaced the ordinance which was promulgated earlier in 2021.

Initiatives/Programmes to tackle drug abuse:

• Nasha Mukt Bharat: Annual Action Plan (2020-21):
  • Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment launched the programme for 272 most-affected districts across the country.
  • It launched a three-pronged attack combining efforts of Narcotics Bureau, Outreach/Awareness by Social Justice and Treatment through the Health Dept.
• National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) for 2018-2023:
  • NAPDDR aims to focus on preventive education, awareness generation, identification, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation of drug dependent persons.
  • It also focuses on training and capacity building of the service providers through collaborative efforts of the Central and State Governments and Non-Governmental Organizations.
  • The National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), an autonomous body of MSJ&E, has been given the responsibility of implementing the activities of NAPDDR.
• National Awards for outstanding Services in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse:
  • The awards are given by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, annually, on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.