Akshat Sethia

Professor Christen Enos

First-Year Writing
September 28th, 2016

Punjabs war on drugs

4.2 million Americans aged 12 or older (or 1.6 percent) had used
heroin at least once in their lives. It is estimated that about 23 percent
of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it. (National
Institute of Health) This thought haunt me after reading the article
Why Does Punjab Have a Drug Problem? The Untold Story

Punjab is a state located north of India, known for its rich culture and
food. Its chicken tikka masala is known throughout the world, but no
one knows about the problem the state is facing with narcotics.

Currently, nearly 75% of Punjab's youth is addicted to heroin,

smack, cocaine and other drugs. Among these 75, 30% are HIV
positive. According to Narcotics Control Bureau's reports, 50
percent of drug-related cases of the country are from Punjab
alone. Still, the chief minister remains in denial mode. The High
court, itself has quoted that Punjab not serious in combating
drugs and Government lacks will to stop jail drug flow (Kriti
Rao)

This study shows how bad is the drug problem in Punjab. The
astonishing part is that most of the users are youngster, and todays
youth is tomorrows future. Imagine a future filled with drug addicts.
This thought made Rishika Baruah write an article about the untold
story behind Punjabs drug problem.

The article written on the quint (an Indian online blog) talks about the
stereotypical Indian who blames everything on Pakistan, and how the
Indian government is to blame for the drug problem in Punjab.

The

article starts off my asking us (the readers) If Pakistan is the root

cause of Punjabs drug problem, why then has the drug menace reared
its ugly head only in the last decade? Punjab has been a border state
for 69 years. So whats changed? (Rishika Baruah) This rhetorical
question hints towards the Indian society who given a chance would
waste no time in blaming Pakistan for its problems.

Rishika splits her article into six parts, each explaining a different topic.
She starts off by informing us how opium was usually used by people in
Punjab (Opium: An Old Story), and then talks about how the use of
opium shifted to the use of heroin (Drug Problem Suddenly), she then
informs us about the group of people who consume the drugs (Not Just
a Party Problem), and then she shifts her focus to how the government
is to blame for this problem (Government Myopia to Blame) and how
the governments decisions could lead Rajasthan turning into Punjab

(Rajasthan Headed the Punjab Way) , she concludes her essay by

giving the governments view on the problem and what she thinks
about the drug problem.

Through covering so many topics under one article, Rishika manages to

educate the readers about the overall situation in Punjab. While the
purpose might be to educate the readers, she also raises awareness
and awakens the readers that a change is needed and makes the
reader think about what has India being doing to tackle this problem,
and why have we (the reader/ citizens of India) have not done anything
yet. The article also hints on the topic of corruption prevalent in India
and how heroin trade is a major source of political funding, which
creates a feeling of hate among the readers towards the government.

The author made a smart choice by choosing the internet as a way to

spread her thoughts to her audience. This article was targeted to
various groups of the society youngsters, adults (parents), activist
and the Indian government. Though this article was mainly meant for
Indians, other international groups such as the UNODC (United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime) could benefit from reading this article. This
article excluded the generation over the age of 50, as most of them
dont access the internet for blogs. The readers of this article must
have prior knowledge about the drug problem prevalent in Punjab, and

most of the readers would know about it by the watching the movie
Utda Punjab.

Rishika Baruha has made full use of the versality and freedom of the
internet in writing her article. The article uses images and videos to put
forwards facts and information. As the article starts theres a short
YouTube clip (https://youtu.be/dR7lzbs4iSc) in which the author herself
gives a briefing about the situation in Punjab. The information obtained
from this video gives the reader a better understanding about what the
article is really about, and the video being personally shot makes the
reader feel connected to the article.

Figure 1

Figure 2

To visually and emotionally connect with the readers, the author uses
images to bring forward her ideas.

While the author talks about the shift from the use of opium to the use
of heroin, she does it with the help of an image (figure 1). The image
just doesnt bring out the facts, but also brings out the emotion
(pathos) with the black & white background and the image of a
youngster in handcuffs with syringes containing heroin hanging. The
image of the youngster covering his face and his head down brings out
the emotion of sadness and shame, and the black background further
enhances the emotion of death, evil and fear. The facts in chronological
order about how in 2000 people were largely opium addicts, in 2007
mainly pharma drugs addicts, in 2012 about half started using heroin
and currently 90% are heroin addicts are brought out in the image. This
cuts down the length of the article making it a short read, which
readers prefer now days.

In another image (figure 2) used in the article in which an old woman is

crying, the emotion (pathos) of sadness is brought out. The woman is
sad as her daughter is in prison for possession of narcotics. The
sadness on the womans face can be felt by the reader, which makes
him (the reader) emotionally connected to the article, and also brings
out the sadness drug addiction carries along with it.

While the use of images and videos makes the article an easy read, the
style of writing and the diction used also makes the reading light. The
article makes use of simple words which are easy to understand, and

breaking the whole article into short paragraphs helps in fast reading.
While the essay is about a serious problem faced by Punjab, the author
adds humor and sarcasm to her writing to lighten the mood- At least
one-third of the rural population consumes opium in Punjab. To put it in
perspective, opium consumption among the rural population is a bit
like the urban concept of a customary two drinks after a hard days
work. It may not be great for you, but will not do you much harm, right?
Plus, the daily dose of opium used to cost Rs 30-40 light on the
pocket. (Rishika Baruah) Here the author mocks the consumption of
opium and through the use of black humor brings into light an
important fact about how easily opium was available. This light tone
later on changes into a serious one as you read on. The author in order
to catch the readers attention uses bold formatting to highlight
important facts such as Most addicts earn between Rs 6,00020,000 a month but need an average of Rs 1,400 a day for
drugs. (Rishika Baruah) Here she highlights the fact that though the
consumers cant afford the drug, their willing to go out of their way in
order to obtain it, turning most consumers into small time peddlers.

As a reader you might notice that the author has been a bit aggressive
and harsh when it comes to blaming the government for the drug
problem faced by Punjab. This is because her point of view is bias as
she was born in Punjab and has seen her friends change due to their

addiction to drugs. This bias view of her can been seen when she
blames the government on clamping down on opium which then
caused heroin replacing opium. Logically, the government was just
trying to stop the drug menace, so she shouldnt have blamed the
government. To counter her bias, she states down facts which supports
her claims- The Punjab government quietly released a shorter version
of the PODS report on its website in January 2016. There is a longer,
more detailed version which has been kept confidential. There was no
announcement, declaration or discussion on the findings of the report.
(Rishika Baruah) Here it can be seen why the government is to blame.
At the of reading the article, you will agree with the author that the
government is to blame for the drug problem faced by Punjab.

Rishika Baruah has written about a very important article, she has
uncovered an untold story which every Indian should know about. This
article and many others have raised awareness among the Indian
readers, and have made them realized how big of a problem this
actually is. Most of these articles view is that its the government to
blame which has caused agitation among Indians, they have finally
woken up and now efforts are being made to solve this problem.

Works cited
Rao, Kriti. "The Story Behind Punjab's Drug Problem." Bameslog Web.
27 Sept. 2016.
National Institutes of Health. "Heroin." DrugFacts. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.
Baruah, Rishika. "Why Does Punjab Have a Drug Problem? The Untold
Story ." The Quint. 16 June 2016. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.