Let me tell you a little about the history of the NDPS Act. NDPS stands for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. This Act was introduced in 1985. At that time, Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States of America. He had started a campaign or “war against drugs”. At that time, India was more tolerant towards drug use. However, India adopted the US approach, and passed the NDPS Act. 

Recently in 2019, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) put out a report. The report said that the people affected by drug use are one of the most oppressed, discriminated against people. By changing the law, they want to change the way these drug cases are dealt with. Instead of punishment, they want to provide rehabilitation, counselling etc, to help people to get out of the addiction.

Now, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment wants to review the NDPS Act. They have suggested that possession of small quantities of drugs for personal use can be decriminalised. The Department of Revenue is the authority in charge of the NDPS act. The Ministry of Social Justice and Welfare has asked them to suggest changes to make to the Act. 

Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3. All his bail pleas have been rejected even though he was not found with any drugs. The NCB has charged him with “conscious  possession”. If you know that a person has drugs, but do not report it to the police, you are said to have “conscious possession. The NCB said that even though Aryan did not have drugs with him, he was in conscious possession as he knew that his friend Arbaaz Khan had drugs with him, but did not report it. 

Many experts said that it is difficult to get bail under the NDPS Act.

Tags

• MSJE
• Drugs
• NCB

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