1 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985.
CHNB
3 Introduction: Coca, Hemp and opium are excellent drugs but they are habit forming & degenerating effect on the health of the user. The cultivation of Opium poppy was brought under legislative control in 1857, (Opium Act) this was supplemented by opiumact, 1878, which imposed restrictions on the possession, sale, supply etc., of opium. The primary aim of the opium act was to control indiscriminate use of this drug and associated problems like: Protection of public welfare by preserving health Eliminating social & moral effects Hemp is very popular in Asia, Africa and in India particularly, this drink is mentioned as the favorite of lord Shiva, according to Hindu mythology. In present day, drugs like LSD, heroin, brown sugar, smack & lot more have been added to the list of habit forming drugs.
7 Most unfortunate is the fact that, NDPS addicts are increasing all over the world.
As a result of this problem has taken a global significance particularly because of a large number of students at all levels are turning out as drug addicts. Smuggling and sale of NDPS is still the most lucrative business amongst anti-social elements. In the view of the degenerative effects of these drugs on the individuals, governments of different countries thought it fit to restrict their use to bonafied medical purpose only. After first world war ( ), India participated in the second International opium conference at Geneva wherein a convention relating to dangerous drugs (Geneva Convention) was adopted in 1925. To take appropriate measures to suppress the contraband traffic in, and abuse of dangerous drugs, especially those delivered from opium, Indian hemp and coca leaf.
8 Government of India passed the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930, with a view to control certain operations and to enhance penalties for certain offences relating to dangerous drugs. To keep the pace with the changing times and overwhelming abuse of these dangerous drugs required a fresh legislation. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Rigorous imprisonment upto 30 years and a fine of more than 30 lakhs. Even for possession of small quantity of any NDPS for personal use.
9 Important definitions:
Cannabis (Hemp) meaning: Charas: The resin in crude or purified state obtained from cannabis plant including concentrated preparations and resin is known as hashish oil or liquid hashish. Ganja: Flowering & fruiting tops of cannabis plant (excluding seeds & leaves). Any mixture with or without neutral materials of above forms or any drink prepared from them.
10 Coca Leaf: Leaves of any plant of genus Erythroxylon from which cocaine, ecgonine and other ecgonine alkaloids have not been removed except preparations containing NMT 0.1% of cocaine. Opium: Coagulated juice of opium poppy (papaverum somniferum or any other species of papaverum). Or any mixture of coagulated opium with poppy with or without neutral materials containing more than 0.2% morphine. Poppy straw: All parts (except seeds) of the opium poppy after harvesting whether in original form or cut, crushed or powdered or whether or not the juice has been extracted therefrom.
11 Manufactured drugs: Medicinal cannabis: It is medicinal hemp meaning any extract or tincture of cannabis (Hemp). Coca derivatives: 1. Crude cocaine that is any extract of coca leaf. 2. Ecgonine and all its derivatives from which it can be recovered. 3. Cocaine, that is methylester of benzoylecgonine, and all its salts. 4. Preparations containing more than 0.1% cocaine.
12 Opium derivatives: Medicinal opium: Powder or granulated form of opium processed to adopt it for medicinal use in accordance with the requirements of I.P./ any other pharmacopoeia. Prepared opium is opium manipulated to render it suitable for smoking and any dross residue left after it is smoked. Morphine, codeine, thebaine and their salts. Diacetylmorphine known as diamorphine or heroin and its salts. Preparations containing more than 0.2% of morphine or any amount of diacetylmorphine
13 Controlled operations
By central Govt. By state Govt. Cultivation & gathering of coca Cultivation of opium poppy on its behalf Production & manufacture of opium & poppy Straw Sale of opium & its derivatives to state Govt. & manufacturing chemist/ export. Mfg of manufactured drugs Mfg, possession, transport and sale, purchase, consumption and import & export of psychotropic substances. Cultivation of cannabis plant. Manufacturing and possession of prepared opium by a regd. Addict for personal consumption in accordance with medical advice. Possession, transport, warehousing, purchase, sale, consumption and use of Opium Poppy straw Cannabis Coca leaf.
14 Administrative agencies:
Narcotics Commissioner: Central Govt has to appoint Such other officers to supervise cultivation of opium etc, State Govt also appoint to implement the act in their territories & to coordinate with central govt. Deaddiction centers: The central & state governments has to establish necessary centers for identification, treatment, etc of persons addicted to NDPS and for controlling supply of drugs to such persons. Consultative Committee: It is having a chairman and maximum of 20 members appointed by central government They advice on matters related to the administration of the act. It can appoint sub-committees for consideration of any particular matter.
15 Central Bureau of Narcotics (C B N) is headed by the Narcotics Commissioner (NC). The NC is assisted by three Deputy Narcotics Commissioners (DNCs) in charge of the Units in the opium growing states i.e. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Their offices are located at Neemuch, Kota and Lucknow respectively. A Unit comprises of number of Divisional offices headed by a District Opium Officer (DOO) (Group 'B' Gazetted officer), who looks after the poppy cultivation aspects such as licensing of cultivators, measurement of poppy fields, collection of opium, etc. In addition, there are Preventive & Intelligence Cell (P&I Cell) headed by Superintendents (Group 'B' Gazetted Officer). The P&I Cell look after the enforcement aspects. Both the DOO and Supdts. in the Unit report to the DNC in-charge of their Unit. The Central Bureau of Narcotics headquarter is located at Gwalior. The Narcotics Commissioner is assisted by two Dy. Narcotics Commissioners (DNCs) and two Asstt. Narcotics Commissioners (ANCs) along with other support staff/ officers. Besides, overall supervision of activities in respect of all matter relating to Superintendence over opium poppy cultivation, the headquarters office also attends to the issuance of Authorization of Import/ Export of NDPS and other related work.
17 S.No. Offence Penalty 1.1 Contraventions of provisions in respect of poppy straw, opium poppy, coca plant & coca leaves, prepared opium, manufactured drugs & psychotropic substances. Rigorous imprisonment from years. Fine between Rs. 1 to 2 lakhs or more. 1.2 Illegal import or export or external dealings in NDPS. 1.3 Allowing use of premises, vehicles etc., for commission of an offence under the act. 1.4 Embezzlement of opium by licensed cultivators. 1.5 Contravention in respect of cannabis plant and cannabis other than ganja. 2. Contravention in respect of cannabis plant and cannabis related to ganja. Rigorous imprisonment upto 5 years and fine upto Rs. 50,000.
18 S.No. Offence Penalty 3.1 Failure to keep accounts or submit returns as required by law or keeping of false accounts or making of false statements.. Rigorous imprisonment 5 years / Fine or both. 3.2 Failure to produce licenses, permits, authorizations etc., on demand by authorized persons. 3..3 Willful and deliberate indulgence in breach of any provision of act
19 S.No. Offence Penalty 4. Illegal possession for personal consumption or consumption of cocaine, morphine, diacetyl-morphine or any other NDPS specified in act. R.I. up to 1 year or fine or both. 5.1 Illegal possession for personal consumption or consumption of substances other than those mentioned under 4. R.I. up to 6 months or fine or both. 5.2 Offences for which no punishment is separately provided. 6. Abetment/ attempt of above Same punishment as for main offence.
20 Death penalty: There is a provision of death penalty for certain serious offences that are committed after previous conviction. If any individual or firm is found to possess more than following quantities of NDPS without permission, license, etc., and if the offence is repeated, the death penalty may be awarded. Death penalty may also be awarded for a serious offence of financing directly/ indirectly such a big crime as indicated. Special courts may be constituted with single judge appointed by the chief justice of the high court to dispose of the cases of NDPS.
21 PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES
NDPS QUANTITY (attracting death penalty) Opium More than 10 KG Morphine More than 1 KG Heroin Codeine Thebaine Cocaine More than 500 GM Hashish More than 20 KG PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES LSD 500 GM Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Amphetamine 1.5 KG Methamphetamine Methaqualone Mixture of any of above NDPS
23 ISSUE OF WARRANT & AUTHORIZATION:
The warrant is issued by Metropolitan magistrate or Magistrate of I class or II class specially empowered by the state govt. for arrest of person or persons or persons whom he has reason to believe has violated provisions of the act and also warrant for search of any building or premises or and other articles during day or night. An officer of Gazetted rank in central Govt. from the departments of Central excise Narcotics Customs Revenue Intelligence Border security force (BSF) Army or Any other department of central Govt. shall be authorized for the purpose of this Act.
24 The state Govt. may appoint officer of
Revenue Drug control Excise Police or Ant other department as the officer authorized and empowered to implement the warrant. Officer may depute his subordinate but superior to the rank of peon, sepoy or constable to search the premises or conveyance to transport and arrest a person provided he has reason to believe that the provisions of the Act are violated. Any authorized Officer can enter into and search building, conveyance or transport of place and in case of resistance, break open the lock and door, remove any obstacle to such entry, seize NDPS and other materials, conveyance, animal used in illicit traffic, detain any person for interrogation, provided he/she believes that a search warrant or Authorization can not be obtained without affording opportunity for the concealment of evidence or facility for the escape of an offender.
25 He may enter and search such building, conveyance, or enclosed place at any time between sunset and sunrise. Disposal of seized NDPS is done as per the procedure laid down by the central Govt. Any person arrested should be informed about the grounds of arrest. Every person arrested and articles seized under a warrant shall be forwarded to the within 48 hours next after such arrest or seizure to his immediate official superior or Gazetted officer or nearest Magistrate. Any addict who is not charged with any offence earlier and seeks to undergo medical treatment for detoxification of deaddiction from an hospital recognized by Govt. shall not be liable to prosecution only once in his/ her lifetime.
26 HISTORY OF OPIUM CULTIVATION:
The first recorded instance of cultivation of poppy in India in the 15th Century during the days of the Mughal Empire, poppy was extensively grown and it became an important article of trade with China and other Eastern countries. During the later part of the 16th Century, opium was made a State monopoly. In 1757, the monopoly of the cultivation of poppy passed into the hands of the East India Company who had by that time assumed the responsibility for the collection of revenue in Bengal and Bihar. In 1773, the then Governor General, Lord Warren Hastings brought the entire opium trade under control of the Government. Although some changes have taken place over the year in the methods of control of production, distribution, sale and possession of opium, the monopoly remained solely in the hands of the Government. Under the East India Company and afterwards under the British rule, unrestricted cultivation of the poppy and the production of opium were prohibited. The present structure of licit poppy cultivation and production of opium in India under a regular system of control thus dates back to the beginning of the nineteenth century.
27 Cont.. Processing of opium in India began with the setting up of the opium factory in in Ghazipur (U.P.), a town of Eastern U.P. located on the banks of the River Ganga. Later an alkaloid plant was set up a Ghazipur in 1943 during the period of World War II. The second plant for processing opium and manufacture of alkaloids located in Neemuch district of M.P. It also comprises two separate units namely, the Opium Factory and Alkaloid Works. The Neemuch Opium Factory has been in operation since 1st April, 1935. there was another Opium Factory at Mandsaur but the same was closed down in the year 1969.
28 Codeine Phosphate Codeine Sulphate Cotarnine Dionine Morphine Hydrochloride Morphine Sulphate Narcotine Opium Thebaine
29 CULTICATION OF OPIUM POPPY:
The opium poppy for the production of opium or poppy straw can be cultivated only on behalf of central Government in the notified states of M.P, U.P & Rajasthan in accordance with the conditions of a license issued by the District Opium Officer. Application for the grant of such license can made in FORM-2 accompanied by a fee of Rs.5 & the license is issued in FORM-1. Following information is to be furnished in the application: Crop year Name, father’s name and address of the cultivator Khasra (survey) number of the plot of land in which poppy is to cultivated. Whether the plot is in the name of the applicant as per revenue records or not Whether the plot has irrigation facility & the kind of that facility. Past and recent experience Signature of the applicant and attestation by the Lambardar.
30 The license is subjected to following conditions:
The license shall not transfer his license. Has to cultivate opium poppy only for the production of opium and poppy straw over the area of land and the plot (s) specified in the license. Land for poppy cultivation should be free from litigation. The district opium officer may designate one of the cultivators of opium poppy as Lambardar. Lambardar discharge duties specified by narcotics commissioner. The licenses granted by district opium officer may be withheld or cancelled by higher officers after giving a chance to the cultivators for being heard. If any opium is cultivated under a license which is subsequently cancelled the crop may be destroyed.
31 Production of opium: The licensee shall get his daily collections of opium obtained from the crop weighed by the Lambardar and entry in records which should be jointly attested, every day by lambardar and the cultivator. These records may be checked by officers. In case of any discrepancies between quantity produced and quantity entered enquiry shall be made to determine the liability of the cultivator for punishment. All opium produced has to be delivered to the district opium officer who will weigh, examine and classify the same in the prescribed manner. A cultivator dissatisfied with classification may have the opium forwarded to government factory has to be classified by its general manager.
32 If district opium officer suspects any opium delivered to him to be adulterated he may send it separately to government opium factory after sealing it in the presence of Lambardar and cultivator. Adulterated opium is liable for confiscation (i.e., seizure o that property by an authority)after given a hearing to the cultivator. The central government may from time to time fix the price of opium. Cultivators aggrieved by orders of cancellation or withdrawal of licenses, may appeal to Narcotics commissioner or those aggrieved by decisions of the general managers of opium factories may appeal to chief controller of factories.
33 Manufacture of opium: Only central govt. can manufacture opium at its two factories at Ghazipur and neemuch. SALE OF OPIUM: Sale of opium to the state govt. or manufacturing chemists can be made only from govt. opium factory, Ghazipur. The sale to the manufacturing chemists is possible only under permit from concerned state govt. The sale price shall be as fixed by the central govt. from time to time.