Punjab's reeling battle with drug addiction

Punjab has been mired in the problem of drug addiction over the past years. Both young and old have been indulging in drugs like heroine, cocaine and cheap variants like the fluid. In Punjab, the age for drug addiction is getting younger. Several de-addiction centres have been established by the government and private players in order to fight this epidemic. But there has been a worrying cause of the way these de-addiction centres deal with the problem. Eight-ten year-olds are checking into rehabilitation centres. At present, there are five model de- addiction centres with 50-bed capacity each. 21 government detoxification centers are operational at district and sub divisional level with 3.30 lakh OPD visits and 11,656 IPD visits. Patients have, however, complained of treatment and torture at private centres, many of which run without license.