Many drugs on offer in Hyderabad

For high-spirited youngsters, Hyderabad offers many varieties to choose from
Sudipta Sengupta & Mahesh Budd

Cocaine could be making headlines, but it's definitely not the only drug giving the `high-spirited' Hyderabadi junta a high.

HYDERABAD: Cocaine could be making headlines, but it's definitely not the only drug giving the `high-spirited' Hyderabadi junta a high. Their addiction list includes a range of other `stuff' that starts from the cheap and easily available weed (ganja) to the more potent and expensive ecstasy and LSD.

There is also hashish (made from cannabis), charas (another version of hashish) and heroin (derived from opium) that have a huge clientele in the city. Besides our Tollywood stars, a significantly large number of young professionals and college students too are hooked on to these substances.

And this, despite the rising cost of these addictives. Apart from some `diluted' versions of marijuana (ganja), that are found for a nominal Rs 100 or so (per gram), the rest of the stuff come at astronomical prices. Here's a quick look at the rate card. Hashish: Rs 1,500-Rs 2,500 (per tola), ecstasy (pill): Rs 1,600- Rs 2,500 per piece, LSD: Rs 2,000 or more (per drop). "Even good quality weed comes for nothing less than Rs 500 a sachet," said a reveller from the city adding how it has increasingly become a fad to smoke among young pub-goers. "Especially boys are looked down upon if they don't smoke. There is a huge peer pressure behind the rising rate of drug addicts," the reveller said.

Predictably, this tremendous surge in the number of addicts is leading to a rapid expansion of the drug market in Hyderabad. Found only in select pockets until a few years ago, they are now sold in places across the city. Topping the charts in this trade are areas such as Dhoolpet, Begum Bazar and Sitaphalmandi among other small `dope joints'. "These markets are well-known hubs for marijuana (ganja). The dealers here also sell other drugs, but that is done very discreetly," said an observer noting how in earlier days ganja trading was more blatant in Hyderabad. "In every nook and corner of the city one could find these peddlers. It is only after the hard drugs started to flood the market and drew the police's attention, did they go underground," the source said. But while the dealings are now kept under wraps, these drugs are available in abundance across Hyderabad, insiders claim adding how the police seem to be little bothered about this.

In fact, even official records show how the men in khaki in the last two years have largely busted cocaine gangs and seized very small quantities of ganja, charas and brown sugar. No action has been taken to curb the use of major drugs like LSD and ecstasy. In 2009 for instance, the city police booked 24 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act, arrested 43 persons and seized 264.5 kilos of ganja and 28 grams of brown sugar. In 2010, the number of cases under the same Act jumped to 51 and 98 persons was arrested in these cases. A total of 556 grams of cocaine, 440 kg of ganja, 900 grams of ephedrine (a chemical used in drugs) and 400 grams of charas was seized from the accused. "These numbers, though look impressive on the face of it, are very small when compared to the growth of the trade in the city. Every day, several kilos of ganja are brought into the city from neighbouring districts. The police need to do much more to check the menace," said an observer of the drug `industry' of Hyderabad.

Apart from local consumption, ganja from Andhra Pradesh is even exported to other states in south and central India too. "The ganja available here is considered to be of very high quality and is, therefore, smuggled out in huge quantities" said a police official while maintaining silence on the department's role in addressing the issue. In fact, those doing marijuana in Hyderabad say that the men in uniform have even turned a blind eye to the rising number of ganja peddlers roaming the streets of the city. In Dhoolpet for example (the hub of ganja peddlers), several pan shops have ganja stocks that are sold to any interested party that approaches the shop. That this is done without the knowledge of the police is hard to belief, observers say. Many of them are also LSD and ecstasy suppliers who have never been nabbed by the police who only seem to be running behind coke peddlers.

"Cocaine and ganja are dealt with by two different peddler groups. We have information about the synthetic drugs dealers also and hear that these substances are available even at city pubs. We are now cracking down on coke peddlers and will soon focus on the other network too," said a Task Force inspector, in his team's defense.