GANJA STILL ON A HIGH, TOPS LIST OF SEIZED NARCOTICS

IN THE market catered to by the underworld where no advertising is needed,
ganja appears to be the top-selling brand in India. Data from the
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) shows that in terms of quantity, ganja
continues to top the list of narcotics seized over the years up to 1998.

Of the total seizures during the year 1997, seizure of ganja was 89 per
cent, hashish 3.63 per cent and opium 3.56 per cent in terms of quantity.
In 1998 too, ganja comprised the bulk of the seizures — 62,591 kgs. Taking
the amount of seizures of a particular drug as an indicator of the quantum
smuggled in, this indicates that ganja smuggled into the Indian drug market
is the maximum. In absolute terms, seizures of ganja, hashish and opium in
1997 were 80,866 kgs, 3,285 kgs and 3,221 kgs, respectively.

Provisional figures of seizures in 1998 show that seizures of ganja, opium
and heroin declined in 1998 compared to 1997, whereas seizure of hashish
has increased.

Analysis of drug seizures data from 1986 onwards by the Central Economic
Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), an arm of the revenue department, shows that
ganja has, for a long time been smuggled into India in large quantities.

In absolute terms, the seizure of ganja which was 60,619 kgs in 1986
witnessed a decline in seizures up to 1990, and thereafter started rising
again till it reached an all time record seizure of 1,87,896 kgs in 1994.
After 1994, the seizures declined in 1995 and 1996, but rose in 1997.
However, as per provisional data, ganja seizures have again declined in
1998 to 62,591 kgs which is below 1996 levels. In case of hashish, the
seizure figure of 18,909 kgs in 1986 declined over the years to an all-time
low seizure of 3,285 kgs in 1997. However, seizures of this drug have
picked up to 8,478 kgs in 1998 as per provisional data.

The seizures of heroin and opium also came down in 1997 compared to the
last few years and have declined further in 1998 as per provisional figures
from the NCB. In case of cocaine, seizures showed a declining trend since
26 kgs was seized in 1986 till a record 40 kgs was seized in 1995. Cocaine
seizures have dropped since then and were 3 kgs and 24 kgs in 1996 and
1997, respectively.

Interestingly, data on action taken against person involved in drug
trafficking shows that while there is a continuous rise in number of person
prosecuted and number convicted over the 12 years, the number of persons
acquitted has shown an alarming rise vis-a-vis those prosecuted. While
during 1986 only 3 per cent of the number of persons prosecuted were
acquitted, the figure has risen to 37 per cent in 1997.