There is a perception that using drugs and alcohol can be the perfect way to escape from life stressors and other difficult issues, but the ‘cure’ for the internal pain actually creates a worse problem, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has said.
Hearing a batch of bail and anticipatory bail petitions filed by several individuals from southern districts, Justice B. Pugalendhi observed that when a person was drunk or high on drugs, he might have positive and euphoric feelings. Such substances could dull emotions and make painful feelings disappear temporarily.
For this reason, many people ended up using substances to cope with emotional pain, bad memories, poor sleep, guilt, shame, anxiety or terror. Unfortunately, those moments of escape were only temporary and came with many consequences, he said.
After the use of substances, finances, relationships and personal well-being got sacrificed, while the underlying issues with which the person was struggling might only worsen. In other words, what seemed euphoric and like heaven could quickly become a personal hell. This was one side of the coin.
The other side was the rise in crimes. The drug-crime relationship was of three types: violation of drug laws, crimes motivated under the influence of drugs and crimes that relied on drugs. There was also emergence of juvenile crimes, such as chain snatching, sexual abuse and other offences, committed under the influence of such substances, the court observed.
The petitioners were accused of being in possession of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The court took note of the fact that the Director General of Police had issued circulars instructing police officials concerned with regard to storage of substances in malkhanas or special storage rooms for safe custody and maintenance of a register in this regard.
Later, Justice B. Pugalendhi decided the individual cases on merit.
