This story is from July 13, 2016

Dr Gandhi to move Bill to legalise recreational drugs

Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi said on Wednesday that he was working on an amendment to Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act 1985 to legalize common recreational drugs. It will be moved in the Parliament as a Private Member Bill in the monsoon session of the Parliament.
Dr Gandhi to move Bill to legalise recreational drugs
MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi
CHANDIGARH: Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi said on Wednesday that he was working on an amendment to Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act 1985 to legalize common recreational drugs. It will be moved in Parliament as a Private Member Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament.
The draft of the bill has been prepared by a group of Delhi based lawyers and professionals and discussions will be held among various politicians, lawyers, psychiatrists, academicians, social activists, drug users, religious leaders and media personalities this weekend to elicit their opinions and give it a final shape.
Dr Gandhi had won the 20154 election on an AAP ticket but was later suspended by the party.
Dr Gandhi said,”The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, was enacted in order to meet then UN Conventions on drug policy; the miserable failure of punitive measures to combat drug supply occurred as the demand for drug has exhibited exponential growth, leading to creation of drug mafias that provided for continual supply regardless of the harshest punishment provisions.
He further recounted that, “It has dawned upon countries worldwide that by decriminalising certain substances that pose minimal health risks and by following harm reduction policies, that demand for harmful and killing medical and synthetic Nashas/drugs has dropped drastically, along with the offences committed. Certain Indian states are currently facing a massive drug problem, with citizens between 15-40 years of age habitually abusing drugs, and this has caused considerable harm to society in general and youth in Particular.”
Stating the objective of the amendment as destruction of Mafia, Dr. Dharamvira elaborated, “It appears that stricter punitive measures are not assuaging the problem, but only making it worse. This calls for a modernisation of Indian drug policy, by combating the demand for drugs along with the supply of harmful substances.
The object of the Bill is to demolish the nexus of politicians, police and peddlers, (collectively known as Drug Mafias) who are spreading the menace of harmful artificial and synthetic drugs into the blood of youth in the country which has succeeded in substituting the common man’s recreational drugs like opium, opium husk and bhang in the country with much harmful medical and synthetic drugs.

“To treat drug addicts as a patients and not criminals,” is another hall mark of the NDPS amendment bill, according to Patiala MP.
The Bill proposes to adopt the Ban on Smuggling, trade and distribution network of hard drugs along with harm reduction strategy to counter the collegiums of Drug Mafias, a model successfully practiced in many countries of the world.
Dr Gandhi said the amendment to NDPS Act that shall legalize common recreational drugs like Bhukki, Bhang and Afeem will be moved in Parliament as a Private Member Bill in the monsoon session of the Parliament.
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About the Author
Vibhor Mohan

Vibhor Mohan is Special Correspondent with The Times of India’s Punjab Bureau at Chandigarh. He holds post-graduate degrees in Mass Communication and English and has nearly 15 years of experience, having covered important stations in Punjab. He covers news concerning Punjab politics, NRI affairs and the power sector, besides specializing in writing on architecture, especially on the works of Le Corbusier, the man who gave India its first designed city – Chandigarh.

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