Drug Trafficking

• 14 Jun 2024

Why in News?

Recently, two alleged women smugglers were arrested with over 26 kg of cannabis near the Tripura-Mizoram inter-state boundary.

• Both women were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

Key Points

• NDPS Act, 1985 prohibits a person from producing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, storing, and/or consuming any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.
  • The National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse was also created under a provision of the NDPS Act, 1985, to meet the expenditure incurred in the implementation of the Act.
• Drug trafficking refers to the illegal trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit drugs.
  • It encompasses a wide range of activities associated with the illegal drug trade, including the production of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and synthetic drugs, as well as the transportation and distribution of these substances.
  • Drug trafficking operates within a complex network of criminal organisations that span across borders, regions, and even continents.

Cannabis

• According to the WHO (World Health Organization), cannabis is a generic term used to denote the several psychoactive preparations of the plant Cannabis sativa.
  • According to the WHO, cannabis is by far the most widely cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug in the world.
  • Most species of cannabis are dioecious plants that can be identified as either male or female. The unpollinated female plants are called hashish.
• The major psychoactive constituent in cannabis is Delta9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).