IT may not give the entire picture and there is no denying that drug overdose deaths often go unreported, but the significance of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data lies in the insights it provides. According to the latest report, of the 978 drug overdose deaths reported across India in 2024, Tamil Nadu accounted for 313, followed by Punjab at 106. Punjab has shed the dubious distinction of leading the tally, but the situation on the ground remains worrying. The number of deaths has gone up from 89 in 2023, when the national tally was 654. What’s more alarming, the drug net is widening. Himachal Pradesh reported 31 deaths, up from 21, and Haryana three, from zero a year earlier. Each death denotes a failure at many levels, most of all the inability to prevent the supply lines and offer de-addiction support at critical moments.
Similar to Punjab, the drug issue now dominates the political discourse in Tamil Nadu. In 2021, the southern state led the national tally with 250 deaths of a total of 737. It managed to bring the numbers down sharply, but the reversal points to the vulnerability. No region is safe. The fight against drugs loses sting in the absence of relentless, coordinated crackdowns against the kingpins, and not just the peddlers. With a focus on supply reduction, there is negligible policy push on demand reduction by addressing the causes of addiction and offering solutions.
Punjab has the second-highest NDPS Act crime rate at 29 cases per lakh population and the fourth-highest number of cases. Kerala tops the list in both categories. It’s an unfair assessment that the governments in Punjab have ignored the drug menace. What’s inescapable is that they have largely failed. Clearly, the strategies are not working.
