Dr. Mona Nongmeikapam & Kshetrimayum Sanathoi
“Organized crime is driving the illicit drug trade with devastating consequences for people and communities around the world” screams the headlines of the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) website. Ironically, we are sitting right in the heart of a sociopolitical conflict that has dragged out for more than 2 years and which has the forbidden DRUG in the heart of it all. This year’s theme is very appropriate to our present unrest.
In 1987, the General Assembly of the United Nations began observing the 26th of June as the International Day Against Drugs and Illicit Trafficking to shotgun an international commitment towards tackling the drug trade and its accompanying issues. As of 2025 – 38 years later – the drug trade shows no signs of getting subsided by any of the numerous international and national strategies taken against Narcotics and Drug abuse and illicit trafficking claims more victims every year than any other form of crime globally. Illicit drug trafficking and production are multi-faceted problem that has negative social, political, economic and health effects. Thus, this year’s International Day Against Drugs and Illicit Trafficking emphasises addressing the root causes behind the drug trade and investing in preventive measures.
The harms of any substance use on the infrastructure of any family, on the young minds, the deterioration of the economy by taking away from the workforce have been stressed and oft harped about. The vulnerability that one can invite onto oneself by becoming an addict is a pain that can only be described by a person who has suffered from addiction or the ones who have seen them from up close. The restlessness, the urge, the craving, the irritation, the physical aches, pains and discomfort, the sheer helplessness and the rage from the frustration that stems from the need to eat away from a person until they just become a mere shell that resembles nothing like their former self. This makes a person self-centred. Science calls it salience and ultimately, all that matters to them is how to get the next fix.
Poof, goes the bright-eyed aspirations, dreams, self-respect, even love for their near and dear ones. The medical complications of any substance addiction are innumerable, from the risk of cancers, vulnerability to various ailments, STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases), Delirium, Dementia, various psychiatric manifestations like very alarming hallucinations, confusion, delusions, sexual dysfunctions, multi-system dysregulation and even uncertainty of a sudden painful death. But the HIGH or the “Kick” as they are called is so high that it beats all reasoning, curbs all fear.
In regions marked by instability, organized criminal networks are expanding drug production and trafficking at an unprecedented scale. The rise in the number of users and the quantity of usage creates more demand. More demand gives rise to more production, trafficking and other drug-related crimes. These fuel violence and erode state institutions, like has happened to a small, erstwhile peaceful state like ours. The more potent substances are driving overdose deaths and putting pressure on already fragile health systems and even more fragile economies. Illicit drug trade is connected to other crimes, including human trafficking, illegal scams/frauds and environmental destruction. These interconnected crimes have brought a vicious cycle of poverty, exploitation, institutional weakness and addiction. Perhaps we will never know the true extent of how deep the issue goes.
Drug trade drives most forms of global organised crime, and disproportionately affects the Global South and particularly the youth and marginalised sections of society. The impact on the economic front includes harsher healthcare costs, lost productivity, criminal justice system costs, human capital loss, and environmental damage. Socially, it extends its negative effects to everything from public sanitation and health to social services, to law enforcement, to education, and to family dynamics. The systemic and personal issues caused by the narcotics industry, along with the direct effects of narcotics usage, diminish the quality of national and international health.
Illegal trade of drugs tends to be closely linked to local politics through the distribution of power — the function of democracy weakens in the face of power wielded by drug money and evidence over the years has demonstrated that law enforcement institutions and governments are not exempt from illegal trade of drugs. The cause and effect of the drug trade are linked together in a way that forces a repeating cycle. The illicit drug industry takes advantage of the addictive qualities of narcotics to gain money and power. At the same time, it creates its own market and produces its own workers. While suppliers and producers make large profits and gain immense benefits, the ramifications and adverse consequences of the drug trade fall on consumers and low-level traffickers.
In the case of our state, Manipur, which is situated in a complicated geo-political arena susceptible to illegal drug trafficking, the youth, the economically weak, and minority communities fall prey to the evil grasp of the drug trade. Poorer and marginalised sections of society have taken to drug trafficking, particularly of opium, as an easier source of economic support. Legal cash crops cannot match up to the price, profit and market of opium and thus the people find themselves turning towards the drug trade as a way of making ends meet, goaded by the bigger powers of the drug trade. Political conditions of the state make it such that drug money integrates into the economy through money laundering and corruption. Meanwhile, the consumers of the industry tend to be the youth and other vulnerable people.
Despite campaigns such as “Nisha Thadoklasi” launched on 26th June 2018, “War Against Drugs” and several other well-intentioned programmes focused on educating and raising awareness about the consequences of drugs, there is a clear gap between implementation and in-ground realities. Half of the population is still directly or indirectly affected by psychoactive substances. According to the 2019 India HIV report, Manipur has a 1.18% adult prevalence rate of HIV, which is the third highest among all states of India. Manipur continues to face a loss of its potential youth every day. This all makes it even more important that we invest our efforts into prevention. The responsibility ahead of us is in making sure that our population is prevented from ever facing the consequences of drug abuse and in making sure to address the already existing effects. In doing so, it is crucial that we provide solutions for the factors that drive people towards the drug trade.
Stopping drug trafficking requires long-term coordinated action to address supply and demand and prevent organized criminal groups from exploiting vulnerabilities. This year’s World Drug Day calls for investment in prevention, including justice, education, health care and alternative livelihoods — the building blocks of sustainable resilience. UNODC is working with countries to stem the flow of chemicals used in illicit drug manufacture, strengthen prevention, expand treatment and recovery services and support communities in transition. The cycle can be broken — and together we can make it happen.
We leave you with a plea: BE SMART, DON’T START. Say NO to Drugs. Time-tested and true, prevention is always better than cure.
