Bangalore, Apr 6: Outside Christ College in Bangalore, one of the city’s most prestigious educational institutions, a sign warns, ‘Sale of cigarettes or narcotics is a punishable offense’ The warning intimidates nobody.
At 1.00pm on a week day, 4 students gather near a green push-cart which is parked from 10.00 am to 10.00pm every day, across the road. The person manning it is about thirty-years-old and sells tea and cigarettes. The code word is – stuff. The students say they buy drugs every Friday. I make friends with the group and ask them to help me buy stuff. They think I am an employee at an IT firm.
There is one student who the peddler recognizes. The student tells us he needs at least 250 grams of marijuana spiked with heroin for a weekend party. He talks to the peddler while the rest of us wait about five meters away. When the student returns, I say I need 10 grams. The student tells us the peddler sold him 300 grams of the concoction he wanted for Rs 15,000. He then sells me 10 grams for 600 rupees.
Sharan (not his real name), explains, ‘Nowadays everyone has a car. We roll up the windows and do it.’ He claims that students like him also buy cocaine ‘mainly for farmhouse parties only.’
Sonu (not her real name), another student at the same college, says, ‘Alcohol takes three to four hours to get you high. This can get you high in three minutes. The only time we got caught was outside college once by cops.’ A bribe of Rs 250 ended that problem, she says.
The city police admit that cases of drug abuse among students between 16 years and 25 years are increasing.
‘We keep a strict watch mainly for opium and opium-based products. But then supply is repeated and suppliers keep changing, making it difficult for us, so we have to be alert,’ says Alok Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Bangalore.
College counselors point out that the ruthless competition for admissions is creating unprecedented stress for students. Some, who are in hostels and living away from their families for the first time, tend to think of drugs as anti-depressants.
De-addiction centers in the city say there has been a 25 percent increase among undergraduate students seeking help.
A student who admits to buying all kinds of drugs says there are different needs on different days.
He shares, ‘You should know the knack of getting it. You pay, you get. Bribe gets everything.’
