01 Sep 2020  |   03:54am IST

Will the recent drugs crackdown stop drug parties? Goans aren’t hopeful

The Goa Police has recently cracked down on rave and drug parties. Will this attention perhaps bring about a change in the casual consumption of drugs and the organizing of these parties? Café spoke to people who had an opinion on the matter.

Ajit John

Of late there has been a great deal of coverage on the parties where drugs are sold and consumed in large quantities. Narcotics worth lakhs were seized at these parties. From Ganja to Heroin, drugs catering to various appetite and budgets were seized at these parties. These parties are part of the lore of nightlife in Goa. But now with all the attention given to these parties will drug parties become a thing of the past. It is a question that has been asked several times in the past but have the patience of the people been stretched to the limit and they want no more of this.

Everyone has a view on this subject like they do on Messi’s next move but not everyone was willing to articulate it publicly. 

The general view was one of cynicism. Prashant Kamat was blunt when he said the government was not serious about the drug problem. He said “Many years back the opposition targeted the son of politician in the government saying he was a drug dealer. Many years later and with the opposition getting into ruling nothing has happened here. This shows the seriousness of the political class on the drugs issue. Goans will never know the truth. A certain DGP had taken up the drugs issue as his priority and he was immediately transferred. It appears that someone very well connected is running the drug syndicate in Goa and this syndicate will thrive. The CM who is a Doctor and is young having no past baggage can bell the cat and finish this syndicate once and for all. Otherwise Goa’s youth will be destroyed”.

Smita Bhandare Kamat an academic has repeatedly expressed her concern for the well being of Goa’s youth was not very optimistic. She said “Frankly, I don’t want to sound pessimistic but I don’t think there will be a stop, maybe a pause but all these activities will resurface unless a conscious effort is made to curtail and stop it”.

Never one to shy away from voicing her opinion, Nupura Hautamaki laughed when she asked the question. She said “All this attention on these drug parties will for a while ensure that the organisers lie low for a while only. Unless there is a consistent crackdown and enforcement, this will be back to normal in a few weeks or months. Plus unless they crack down heavily and consistently on the dealers and suppliers, the regular consumption will not go down as people will till continue using them at the smaller house parties with close friends or just by themselves”.

Dr. Meenacshi Martins Consultant Psychiatrist had written a paper on the subject in 1987 after a four years ubject. She said “I had published my findings in a paper at a National Conference on the subject of drug abuse in Goa. I had said that “one Kilometre from the shores of Goa is no longer Goa.” The research was part of the national survey conducted by Ministry of Social Welfare. At the time I was the Founding member of the Country’s first ever organisation on the subject called ‘Drug Abuse Prevention Program”.’

She said three decades on several drug related crimes have been exposed. From petty use back then, to drug mafia settling in Goa and running drug racket on the dark net, today anything is possible. She said “We have witnessed international players in the drug business in recent years and have seen involvement in murder and rampage on the highways of Goa”.

She felt recreational use of cannabis to use of hard-core substances on weekends or at parties was not thought of as bad. The demand was strong and its suppliers were well entrenched. She asked a very pertinent question “How does one expect the use of drugs to stop without very strong intervention of the enforcement agencies?”

Savio Messias former President of the TTAG said “It will always continue. You cannot stop the drug mafia because they are very powerful. This is a problem faced by tourist spots in Europe too. With the organized police force they are unable to stamp it out. It would be wishful thinking on our part if we think this industry will disappear. It is worth millions and millions of dollars. What needs to be done is to control it by conducting raids but the industry and the parties will never die out. That’s the honest truth” Perhaps one can only hope for control and not a complete wipe out of this industry that has spread its tentacles in to the tourism industry.