INSTEAD of focusing their attention only on addicts, the police should go after peddlers and also the big sharks who are in the drug trade. Actually, the addicts are not criminals: They are victims. They harm none but themselves. They should be treated with sympathy and understanding. The criminals are those who are in the drug trade. Drugs must be coming through various routes – foreign and national – into the city. We see reports of some small fry being caught once in a blue moon. There is clearly a chain in this criminal trade.
The narcotics department should be knowing where the drugs come from, how they are put into distribution channels and also the various methods used to get them into the city. Drugs must be coming through air, sea and land routes. It is also possible that the kingpin in a neighbouring country has connections with Indian criminals and hence is able to conduct transport operations.
It is necessary that the law must be explicit who are the real criminals on the drug front – the consumers or the illegal traders. A humanitarian approach is necessary while those who bring drugs to the city and the vendors should be treated sternly, the drug addict should be regarded as a helpless victim: There should be also a review of the heavy punishment which an addict gets now.