Nipah effect: Narcotic cases on the decline

KOZHIKODE: On one side when the whole district is fear- stricken due to the deadly virus- Nipah, on the other side, the Excise Department is excited over the less number of narcotic cases reported in the past one month.  According to officials, it is not just Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS), but also Abkari and other tobacco products that have considerably reduced to a great extent.

“In just two weeks of April this year, we had reported more than five ganja seizures within the city limits, which mainly targeted school and college going students, who were even the carriers of these products. Since the Nipah outbreak the flow of such products have almost turned nil”, said Anil Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Excise.

As schools are all set to reopen, the department will conduct awareness classes in selected schools in the city and students will be selected to keep a track of their classmates if anyone seems to be involved in narcotic cases. The women squad of the police department have already conducted a detailed inspection of all the shops near schools and colleges to check the availability of narcotic products. According to sources, nearly 30 per cent of liquor sales have reduced in the district after an instruction from the Health department to avoid public places. We will work to sustain the present condition without any sales of narcotic products or other similar cases, Mr Anil Kumar further said.