New act to keep drugs farther from children
All offences that may attract more than three years of imprisonment will be non-bailable.
KOZHIKODE: The model rule of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (Care and Protection of Children) gives teeth to the fight against narcotic usage involving children. The rule, which was published a week back, bans the supply of narcotic drug or tobacco products within a radius of 200 metres of child care institutions comprising schools, children’s homes, madrasas, offices of child welfare committee and child protection units.
The prevailing Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) bans the supply of narcotic substance within a 100-metre radius of schools only. All offences that may attract more than three years of imprisonment will be non-bailable. Whoever uses a child for vending, peddling, carrying, supplying and smuggling any tobacco product shall be liable to rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and a fine extending up to Rs 1 lakh.
Under COTPA, a drug supplier could easily get through by paying Rs 10,000 as penalty thus enabling to repeat the offence. Similarly, the extreme punishment under COTPA was three years in jail. “The new rule is most welcome as it would spur us to take up drug abuse cases of children actively. In the existing situation, there is limited scope for punishing the offenders but to offer psychological counselling to children only,” said Anwar Karakkatil, district coordinator of Childline Malappuram.
Excise deputy commissioner P.K. Suresh too shared the opinion. “Definitely the new rule is more efficient in punishing culprits. The JJ Rule would have been more teeth if it entitled excise department to book the offenders,” he said.