Kerala’s drug threat has over 500 cases in each region, widespread and escalating

Kalamassery Government Polytechnic Student, as part of the anti-drug campaign, Committed | Image source: Thulasi Kakkat

Over the past three years, the sudden surge in substance abuse in Kerala has attracted widespread attention. In March, the Kerala High Court warned that the “toxic fangs of the drug mafia” and the governor met with the university’s vice president to address the drug use of students.

The state higher education department has launched a “love” campaign against drug abuse, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged new deputy inspectors to lead the fight against drug dealings. Last month, the state legislature suspended its regular business and discussed the growing crisis.

There is a sufficient basis for the response. Figure 1 shows the number of cases filed under the Anesthetic Drugs and Psychotropic Drugs (NDPS) Act (NDPS) Act (between 2017 and 2024). The number of cases under the bill soared from 5,695 in 2021 to 26,619 in 2022 and exceeded 30,000 in 2023 in 2024.

Figure 1 | Number of cases filed under the NDPS Act

While drug concerns have long been on the lookout for drugs in states such as Kerala and Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, the recent Spike is shocking. For example, in 2023, Maharashtra recorded the second highest number of cases in the NDPS Act, recording only half of Kerala.

The gap widened further in 2024, with Punjab’s second highest number of cases of the year, but only one-third of the total number of Kerala. Several states appear to show a decline in cases in 2023 and 2024. This should be read with caution, as the latest data may be temporary.

Figure 2 provides a clearer description of the severity of the crisis. It maps the number of cases filed under the NDPS Act in 2024, per 100,000 people (case rate) on the horizontal axis (case rate). It plots the absolute number of cases on the vertical axis. The size of the circle corresponds to the population estimate in 2022.

Figure 2 | Case rate filed under the NDPS Act in 2024

There are 78 cases in Kerala, with a large distance outlier. Punjab is the closest case rate, recording 30 cases per 100,000 people. Mizoram also suffers from high case rates. No other state has a tax rate of more than 25 cases per hundred thousand people.

Unlike other states, the problem is not limited to the urban centers of Kerala. In fact, each district in Kerala recorded at least 500 cases under the NDPS Act in 2022, an unparalleled distinction in any other state.

For example, in 2022, the Mumbai district accounts for 80% of all NDPS ACT cases in Maharashtra, while the Bangalore district accounts for 63% of the total Karnataka. By contrast, no district in Kerala has recorded more than 10% of cases in the state. This wide distribution makes policing particularly challenging.

The NDPS Act has two key provisions – one for individual drug use and the other for drug possession of traffic. It is worth noting that in Kerala, 94% of all NDPS cases are filed, while only 6% are related to trafficking in 2022.

Table 3A is the top 25 regions with the highest ranking in 2022. This shows that 17 of them are in Kerala.

Table 3A | Top Regions with Most Drugs

It is worth noting that in Table 3B, the region ranked the top 25 regions with the purpose of transportation rather than a region of Kerala function. However, 13 of them are in Punjab.

Table 3b | Top Regions for Most Intent Traffic Cases

It is important to note that the areas mentioned in this analysis refer to police districts, which may not always be consistent with the administrative district. In Kerala, for example, there are 20 police districts. While some have administrative boundaries, some are smaller units.

Source: Data from 2017 to 2022 comes from NCRB, as well as data from 2023 and 2024.

vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in

sambavi.p@thehindu.co.in