Cannabis along highway attracts drug addicts

Cannabis along highway attracts drug addicts
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Cannabis bushes along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Nagrota. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

Nagrota, August 18
The unchecked growth of cannabis along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH 1-A) is attracting drug addicts in hordes. The cannabis on large tracts at several places along the 312-km highway, which is the only surface link to the Kashmir valley and witnesses a large number of travellers, including foreigners, has turned it into a favourite spot for drug addicts.

Though the locals say the cannabis is being grown on vast areas due to the recent rain, they allege that the authorities concerned have failed to destroy it.

“Though cannabis has grown up to between 5 feet and 6 feet, which takes at least a month, none of the officials concerned has cared to get it destroyed. If the cannabis is not destroyed in the next few days, the drug mafia active in the region will succeed in smuggling it to the other parts of the country,” said Deepak Kumar, a local shopkeeper.

A senior police officer said, “Cannabis leaves are mostly plucked during the season because the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in hemp is higher these days and it fetches a better price in the market.”

Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh government was facing the problem, as the illegal cultivation of cannabis had brought a bad name to some areas like Kullu and Manali where foreign tourists used it as an intoxicant.

SC Sharma, Chief Conservator of Forests, Jammu division, said, “The land along the national highway does not come under our jurisdiction.Hence, I can’t comment on the issue.”

BL Naik, Zonal Director, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), said, “I am out of the state and not aware about the issue.”