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This is an archive article published on March 24, 2025
De-addiction clinics in Ahmedabad witness rise in drug-related cases
In 2022, the agencies had seized 817 litres of cough syrup or Phensedyl from Ahmedabad city alone
As per NCRB record data tabled in the Rajya Sabha in December last year, the cases under NDPS in Gujarat rose threefold from 150 in 2018 to 508 in 2022
Even as MS University law student Rakshit Chaurasiya is under investigation for suspected influence of intoxicants when he hit eight people with his car, resulting in the death of a woman, on March 13, information shared by some rehabilitation centres in Ahmedabad indicate that there is a rise in drug abuse cases in the city with number of cases under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act continuing to increase in Gujarat.
Sources at the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB), Ahmedabad, told The Indian Express that the agency made 100 cases of drug seizures between 2022 and 2024, arresting 232 persons. The maximum number of them — 57 — are those of Mephedrone, the synthetic stimulant, while cannabis comes a distant second at 15 cases.
Dr Vishal Jethva, a senior resident at the Psychiatry Department at the GMERS (Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society) Hospital in Sola, Ahmedabad, said, “Cannabis, MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), cough syrup, and injectable drugs are the most commonly used substances in Ahmedabad.”
The de-addiction clinic run by this hospital saw a 19% increase in drug-related cases in the 20-35 year age group in the last one year, said Dr Jethva.
As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) record data tabled in the Rajya Sabha in December last year, the cases under NDPS in Gujarat rose threefold from 150 in 2018 to 508 in 2022.
In 2022, the agencies had seized 817 litres of cough syrup or Phensedyl from Ahmedabad city alone. Of 96 kgs of drugs seized in the city, 93 were cannabis-based, as per the records.
Project Director and Counsellor at Life Changing De-Addiction Centre in Ahmedabad, Sundip Khuchara, said, “In 2023, we had only 700 patients, but now, in 2024-25, we are treating 2,500 addicts, mostly aged between 20 and 35, who used weed, MDMA and injectable drugs.”
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Live Life Rehab Centre in Ahmedabad is also seeing a rise in the number of patients checking into the facility. A senior director at this centre, Harish Keni, told The Indian Express that earlier, the centre would take in around 190 patients per year; the number has now gone up to 260. “Many patients at the centre are addicted to MD, weed, and charas, as these substances are easily available,” says Keni.
Ahmedabad city Police Commissioner Gyanender Singh Malik said, “We are conducting regular raids to crack down on drug rackets.”
(Vishakha Toshniwal is an intern with The Indian Express, Ahmedabad)
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