Why the restriction on narcotic substances -Supreet Singh Flora

1. Why the restriction on narcotic substances?
By Supreet Singh Flora
The thread of reality is stretched almost every day by the innovations that we come across,
making us think about whether we exist in the present or an unimaginable future. Whether we
talk about this thread or the inventions that make it weaker, we tend to get fascinated by
enigmatic things; humans are curious beings after all. Such is what we concentrate on when we
hear or think about drugs in general. Granted “drug” is an umbrella term for all kinds of
medicines that could help people overcome specific bodily or mental misfunctions, which does
include narcotic drugs in it as well, and it’s not like narcotic drugs don’t have their uses.
One should get familiar with the term before understanding its effects and the restrictions
imposed on it, following the reasons for the same. Narcotics or narcotic drugs are medical
substances with psychoactive compounds present in them to give the sensation of numbing or
paralysis; some often refer to it as euphoria or utter happiness which, albeit sounding fun,
doesn’t resonate well with reality. It’s not very hard to understand what uses these substances
saw throughout the process of their invention till now, and why the production of said
substances still takes place in huge quantities. These are great tranquilising agents and would
help a patient in a medical facility to overcome a high degree of physical pain, which is why
morphine, a medication from the opiate family, found its use in the desolate and tragic fields
of war during the first two world wars. Any and every wounded soldier, with as grave an injury
as losing half of their bodies was injected with doses of morphine in order to make them not
feel the immense pain they were going through. As vague or disturbing as the above example
might sound, it is part of the reality we live in; the reality that is possible because of the
sacrifices of men and women in those days. Morphine saved the lives of many soldiers who
could have just died of the pain that they were experiencing. Similar to morphine, most of the
common narcotics pose as pain relievers or painkillers, but if that was the only use that these
drugs glimpsed upon, it wouldn’t have been a problem and the modern civilisation would have
had one less thing to worry about.
Narcotics have the ability to make the user feel numb, to an extent that the user leaves the
clutches that hold him to the ground of reality and slip into a state of bliss. It’s hard to say if
the previous statement is mildly exaggerated or it holds, but if the millions of testimonies, that
are present all over the internet in form of stories and confessions hold, then that statement is
merely an underwhelming truth. These drugs, when used more than the prescribed amount, do
tend to make the user form a habit around it. Sooner or later, the user loses their ability to
control themselves and let this new-formed habit control themself, hence giving birth to the
commonly known phrase, abusing the drug. Discarding any other context and following the
current one, abusing here refers to the constant use of narcotics without giving up on the urge
of taking it. This in turn makes the user numb to many real life emotions and deteriorates their
brain to a large degree; skills like problem-solving and analytical skills drop down to a high
degree with every subsequent dose. Moreover, using a large amount of these drugs can lead to
an overdose which could result in a brain haemorrhage, followed by the user’s death.

2. Such is the story of a person who went by the username of u/SpontaneousH on Reddit. With as
curious a mind as to any other human’s and the baggage of a monotonous life, he made the
decision of trying heroin, an opioid. He professed his experience as “orgasmic”. Providing his
history of drug use and his drinking habits, he assured the other users on Reddit that addiction
is a far-off concept for him and there’s no chance that he would become an addict. By saying
that, and reassuring everyone who commented on his post, he made a promise to try cocaine
next time and list his experience on the forum again. Two weeks later, his second post comes
out with him confessing that he has been using heroin every day since his first time and that he
shot up, or injected, the drug for the first time. This is followed up with paragraphs of regret
where he mentions that he’s facing withdrawal symptoms even with a few days of relaxation
from the use of the drug. He mentions his constant relapses even when he stops using the drug
for a short time. He asks other users for help and shows his regret for not listening to what they
were saying in his first post. The next post arrives almost a year later with the user telling
everyone about the psychiatric hospital he is being kept in and how the cause of his journey to
that hospital had been an overdose which had technically killed him. Though being a
considerably smaller post than his previous ones, this had more impact on the people of the
internet and many started prophesizing over the whole situation. The next post mentions the
users shift from the psychiatric hospital to a substance abuse unit followed by a long term
residential rehab program. He mentions that he overdosed three times in total and had tried
almost every narcotic drug that there was to use. He ends on the note that he has been given a
third try at life and he’ll try his best to not throw it away this time. The next post comes after a
staggering 6-year gap. In this post, he mentions that he has been clean from all the drugs and
alcohol for the last six years which has made his life worth living for him again. His past seems
like a blur to him and he takes solace in it being that way. Other users on the internet took
inspiration from this story and praised u/SpontaneousH for showing such great strength in order
to get through the various hardships he had created for himself. This story has since been a
source of help and knowledge to many people and continues to be one of the strongest real-life
stories present on the internet by the person’s own account.
The answer to the main question must be as clear as water now. The reason for restrictions may
sound as simple as it is a danger to humans but it is still very complex when we go deeper into
it. With synthetic opioids and opiates, limitations and control are mandatory to safeguard
human lives. Abusing these drugs has become very common behaviour among humans in the
past twenty to thirty years, with states like Punjab and Haryana having uncountable cases of
deaths due to overdose, with the majority being teenagers and young adults. Although this
example seems localised to only India, the same pattern can be seen abroad as well. The
restrictions are not just nationally enforced but every country has its piece of legislature which
addresses the issues regarding narcotics in its way
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 provides a detailed scripture
regarding all the drugs, their controlled use and the restrictions that are being put on them in
the country of India. Chapter IIA of the scripture highlights the welcome of the National Fund
for Control of Drug Abuse which would be used, to fight the illicit traffic of narcotics, control
the abuse of these drugs, educate the youth about the dangers and helping the addicts to

3. overcome their addiction. Chapter III mentions the prohibitions regarding the sale of narcotics
and the control that is going to be practised by the government as well as the citizens. Further
on it gives out special provisions for natural substances like coca plants and cannabis.
Following chapters in the legislature talk about the offences and punishments regarding the
sale and abuse of narcotics and the process of punishing the guilty. Overall this document
provides the essential knowledge that should be within the general confines of an educated
human being.
Even though the word educated reflects the concept of a knowledgeable or literate person, we
don’t always hold ourselves to that kind of reputation and stray away from the path. What
follows next goes on to become either a time worth remembering or a life worth forgetting.
More often than once, we are tested as humans to see how far we would go to step out of our
comfort zone and try new things in order to look better among our peer group or just for the
sake of it. Though it might seem like we don’t have control over situations like these, the
ultimate choice always stays with us, whether we give in to the temptation of hours of bliss and
comfort, or just open our eyes enough to find it all around us.

4. Bibliography
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcotic#World_Health_Organization
● https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1985-61.pdf
● https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007489.htm
● https://www.reddit.com/user/SpontaneousH/posts/