Every cloud has a silver lining as they say. The COVID lockdown is no different. Why so? Because Punjab, which is a drug hotspot, saw nearly 130,000 addicts line up outside the rehab centres.??
According to Scroll, the prices of heroin shot up due to the lockdown, meaning addicts could not get enough cash to score drugs. Take the example of Sukhwinder Singh, who started doing drugs after seeing his friends 2 years ago. He had to sell stuff to get drugs and when he could take it no longer, he joined the centre.?
¡°For a 100-mg pouch, I was asked to shell out Rs 10,000,¡± Singh told IndiaSpend.
¡°I could not afford it. I could neither earn a daily wage, nor make money by selling household items due to the lockdown. The physical pain was unbearable without the drug. That made me join the rehabilitation treatment,¡± he added.
He is not isolated case. Between March and June, 341 government and private de-addiction centres across Punjab have seen addicts enroll themselves. According to the State Government, they constitute 24 per cent of the 544,000 who sought treatment since 2017.?
Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the government has constantly been providing treatment to those who have asked for it.?
According to the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Punjab, medicines were provided every 1 to 3 weeks so that the addicts would not suffer due to lack of treatment during the lockdown. It was also done to prevent transmission of COVID.?
Counselling was also provided, even to patients in isolation or in quarantine.?
Punjab has had a drug problem for some time and the fact that so many are looking to get clean is a big deal. Of course, it is just a start, the journey is far from over, and the road is long and hard.