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Humane approach towards drug users, changes to NDPS Act: Social Justice Ministry

Humane approach towards drug users, changes to NDPS Act: Social Justice Ministry
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recommended changes to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

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Humane approach towards drug users, changes to NDPS Act: Social Justice Ministry

With actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in jail for over 20-days now in a drug related case, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recommended changes to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. It called for a humane approach towards drug users and addicts.




The ministry has suggested that drug users and addicts to be treated as victims who are in need of de-addiction and rehabilitation. It has also recommended decriminalizing possession of small quantities of drugs for personal consumption in its review of the NDPS Act. This comes in the wake of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) having recovered 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of mephedrone, 22 pills of MDMA and 21 grams of charas – which falls in the small quantity category.

Possession of drugs is a criminal offense in India and Section 27 of the NDPS Act prescribes imprisonment of up to a year or a fine of up to Rs 20,000 or both for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. However, the section doesn’t differentiate between addicts, that is, first-time users and recreational users. It is this provision that the ministry wants to be changed by replacing it with compulsory treatment at government rehabilitation and counseling centres for a minimum of 30 days.


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The recommendations from the social justice and empowerment ministry are in response to an exercise initiated by the revenue department. It should be noted that the NDPS Act only adopts a reformative approach towards addicts. The ministry emphasized exemption of a prison term for those caught up with small quantities of banned substances for personal consumption, and called for mandatory treatment to individuals concerned. Small quantities, as per the NDPS Act, refers to amounts less than what has been specified for different substances by the Central Government through a notification in the Official Gazette.


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