India and the United States have agreed to collaborate on curbing the trafficking and production of illicit drugs. This agreement comes against the backdrop of the Drug Policy Framework for the 21st Century signed by both countries.
Representatives of India and the United States identified three main areas where both countries will collaborate towards stopping illicit drug production and trade.
Three pillars
Dr. Rahul Gupta from the Office of the National Drug Policy told PTI, “What we’ve really worked on over the last couple of days is the three pillars. One is the counter-narcotics and the work to do to disrupt the networks of traffickers and producers of illicit drugs.”
He was referring to a two-day meeting between the two countries which concluded on Thursday this week.
The second area identified in the US-India Counternarcotics Working Group (CNWG) was reducing drug demand and the harm induced by the consumption of drugs.
Dr. Gupta explained, “The second one is to work on drug demand reduction and harm reduction. That includes looking at not only how we help people who are suffering from addiction but prevent addiction in the first place, and at the same time working on things like workforce shortages.”
The third area where both countries would be working closely is ensuring that there is a pharmaceutical supply chain and then a thriving pharmaceutical industry, according to Dr. Gupta.
Illicit drugs are a big problem in the US
He noted that nearly 100,000 Americans die because of the consumption of drugs. However, illegal consumption of narcotics and drugs isn’t much of a problem in India, Dr. Gupta said.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Home Affairs has destroyed illegal drugs worth Rs. 12,000 crores recently. Destruction of drug networks is a priority for the Indian government.
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