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And now cough syrups at parties
Tribune News Service

BATHINDA, Nov 4 — In an unusual trend, cough syrups having intoxicating effect have started replacing liquor in various celebrations, including birthday bashes, in this region among the youth, particularly those belonging to pre-teen and teenage groups.

More and more youth have been shifting to cough syrups to have a ‘kick’ on a festive occasion instead of taking liquor or beer. Apart from it, the youth also take certain pain relievers to have fun at parties.

Mr Mehboob Singh Sran, Project Director, Red Cross De-addiction Centre, told TNS most of the youth who indulged in such activities celebrate any occasion clandestinely. He added that the youth organise parties far away from their residences to keep their identity secret.

He added these youth would add unsweetened carbonated mineral water in the cough syrup and then drink it like a peg of hard liquor. After that they would take some sweets to enhance the ‘kick’.

He said a number of such youth whom he had examined told him they had no or little liking for liquor as its prices were increasing every year. Moreover, finding themselves unable to arrange money for purchasing adequate quantity of liquor they had got themselves addicted to cheaper drugs easily available in the market.

Police sources said that in July this year, the police authorities unearthed a “drugs bar” in a hotel located in the heart of the city. In this “drugs bar” cough syrups like phensedyl and comadyl were served to boys and girls. All kind of facilities, including sofas, air coolers, chilled water and cigarettes were being provided to the young customers in the bar.

A chemist’s shop located near the hotel was working as a vend of intoxicants and used to supply the material in the bar. Three persons who were running the bar were arrested by the police. Also, more than 200 bottles of phensedyl and comadyl were seized from the bar.

A cross-section of chemists of the state with whom TNS talked pointed out that inorganic intoxicants freely available in the market started replacing liquor in the municipal council elections held in the state a few years back.

They added that in the last general election, the trend was prominently visible in the urban areas when the voters, particularly the youth, demanded cough syrups and pain relievers from the poll managers of different contestants.

The chemists pointed out that more and more youth were falling prey to synthetic drugs as there was an unprecedented jump in the prices of poppy husk and opium.

Dr Sran said it was the right time to launch a campaign in schools against drug addiction as the latest trend had shown that high school and higher secondary school students had become victims of drug abuse for various reasons.