From campus student tragedies to fragmented narco-cartels, a surge in synthetic narcotics is pushing Goa’s youth toward a Punjab-like crisis that local enforcement struggles to curb
The drug scare in Goa has intensified following RTI-obtained forensic data that revealed 49 narcotics-linked deaths in just 90 days. The persistent drug menace that has come to haunt Goa time and again has seemingly evolved from a localised coastal issue into a full-blown crisis. It now affects villages, schools and colleges across the state.
The spate of student deaths at the BITS Pilani-Goa campus recently brought a severe narcotics angle to the forefront, sparking intense investigation into the entry and availability of banned substances in premier institutes. The extensive use of drugs on campuses of reputed educational institutions in the state speaks of a trend where drugs have been seen as that source of solace for students combating stress and depression. When stress and depression go unaddressed, students may turn to substances for relief.
Students at premier colleges and universities face extreme academic pressure and high-performance expectations. This environment makes them susceptible to using drugs as coping mechanisms, recreational escapes and performance enhancers. This growing menace turns educational institutions into high-risk zones, pointing to a failure in enforcement, breakdown of protective family barriers and the need for robust campus mental health interventions.
Presumably, it is the vulnerable transition to young adulthood, which is seen as a major contributory factor to drug abuse in educational campuses. As students leave the structured environments of home and high school for educational campuses for professional studies, they face a convergence of psychological, environmental and developmental factors that significantly increase their risk of drug experimentation and substance use disorder.
The majority of adolescent experimentation is limited and transient, rather than a permanent path to substance use disorders. The biological trait paired with innate curiosity and peer influence creates a period where youth are highly vulnerable to taking risks and seeking instant gratification.
The transition from recreational misuse of over-the-counter cough syrups to hard drug abuse highlights a growing crisis among the state’s youth. We are now increasingly staring at a scenario where Goa will soon replicate Punjab’s severe drug crisis. The alarming penetration of synthetic narcotics deep into local villages and student demographics paints the coastal state in a completely
different picture.
Goa’s status as a premier tourist destination has long been shadowed by a dark underbelly of international narcotics. Foreign cartels have historically carved out territories, occasionally resulting in brazen turf war and deadly scares that have deeply challenged local authorities and state police. Reportedly, the state’s illicit drug landscape is characterised by shifting dynamics and persistent struggles with enforcement.
The ‘established’ narco-cartels in Goa are transnational criminal organisations that collude to monopolise the illicit supply chain, fix prices and control the distribution of illegal substances. The arrival of independent syndicates and local operators has fragmented the illicit market, making the drug scenario significantly more volatile, hard to monitor and
far more dangerous.
The fragmentation of the drug trade has amplified the crisis in several distinct ways. But more relevantly, it has been the easier, localised access, which dramatically increases the conversion rate from occasional use to severe, physical dependency, especially among young adults, which has
been worrisome.
With reports indicating alarming spikes in drug-related fatalities, a surge in commercial cases and mounting concerns over local youth getting trapped in consumption and peddling, it is difficult to counter the claim that Goa risks becoming an epicentre of rampant drug abuse.
The drug crisis in Goa is destroying the future of the state’s youth. “Drug syndicates constantly adapt their tactics to target youth, shifting from traditional pushers to covert digital marketing. Peddlers now disguise substances as candy, exploit social media algorithms, and use encrypted messaging to arrange stealth deliveries resembling legitimate e-commerce packages.” (The Hindu)
Organised crime networks also target youth for roles as couriers, using the allure of quick financial gain to draw individuals into illegal activities. The alarming wave of unnatural deaths and suspected overdose cases in Goa should have alerted the authorities to the menace of drugs spreading its tentacles into the very vitals of the society.
Goa’s war against drugs involves a zero-tolerance policy implemented by Goa Police to curb trafficking and substance abuse across the state. The implementation of recent legislative and enforcement measures too has been noteworthy.
It is not that the efforts of the state police force have been inadequate in this regard. But it is the logistics of drug trafficking with its evolving ‘innovations’ that has baffled Goa Police as much as it has the best of investigating agencies across the globe. Allegations of failure in disrupting deeply-entrenched supply chains continue to haunt a harried police force that is yet to come to terms with the enormity of the situation.
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed globally on June 26. The day raises awareness about the physical and societal harms of substance abuse, the illegal drug trade and community-driven prevention methods. However, drug awareness campaigns have failed to yield the sort of results desired, with the entire exercise turning out to be mere essays in formality without much coming of the ‘war against drugs’.
(Pachu Menon is a senior columnist and author based in Goa.)
