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Asian Age - Drug culture on rise among city youth
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10/9/06
Drug culture on rise among city youth
By Amitabh Shankar
New Delhi, Sept. 9: Drug culture is on the rise in the capital. Drugs have become ubiquitous and are easily available to all those who can shell out money for it. People are getting hooked to it young at age.
The Rahul Mahajan incident only brought the trend to light after which the Delhi police sprung into action and made heavy seizures of contrabands in the capital. The statistics of the drugs seized in the capital with the Delhi police is alarming. While 1,237 cases under the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act were registered in the year 2004, the cases registered under the act are about 1,000 this year till August 5, 2006. Number of people arrested in the year 2004 under the NDPS Act were 1622, but this year more than 1,200 people have been arrested so far.
The consumption of drugs in high-end parties is commonplace. The narcotic branch of the Delhi police had posted their officers in civvies at the fashion week that concluded in the capital recently to keep a check on the drug-users and profile them. However, the senior police officers refused to divulge the details received from the recce.
It is believed that DJs, choreographers and models are the key links in the narcotic chain in the capital. Highly charged, all-night private parties at cellars, select clubs and pubs - called rave parties - are "happening" in the capital, claim senior officers of the Delhi police. These parties feature music with fast, pounding beats and choreographed laser programmes.
In recent times, such parties have become too common and have been gaining popularity particularly among teenagers, the police officers added. The Delhi police has in the past one year seized huge quantities of contraband worth crores of rupees.
According to another senior police officer, "raves" are held mostly at temporary venues set up for a weekend event. While techno music and light shows are essential to raves, drugs such as cocaine (Coke), MDMA (3,4 Methylene Dioxy Methamphet Amine) also known as Ecstasy, ketamine, GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate), Rohypnol, and LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) have become an integral part of the rave culture.
"Raves" are characterised by high entrance fee, extensive drug use and "chill rooms", where ravers go to cool down, the senior officer said. Delhi has become a transit point for hard drugs with the foreign crowd visiting the capital. The drugs are generally procured from Himachal Pradesh and are processed and refined.
