Exploiting them young

Of late, whenever city police pick up ganja peddlers, it often does not turn out to be yet another arrest-andbook episode for them. The cops are caught in a Catch-22 situation about what to do with the ‘offenders’ because they are tweens or early teens who do not even realise the gravity of the offence they are committing. As cops have a list of adult ganja peddlers in the city and can track their movement, the contraband mafia have found an unsuspecting alternative in the form of young boys in different parts of the city to supply weed to customers. In 2015, seven children were booked under the NDPS Act. However, this does not give the real picture as the police leave the juveniles off with just a warning. Only the repeated offenders are usually arrested.

The mafia generally targets orphaned or lesscared for children from city slums and relocated areas. They are first introduced to ganja and are slowly made to consume it. Once the juveniles become addicted, the mafia demands money in return for the ganja supplied to them. In the absence of a monetary resources, kids succumb to the mafia’s pressure to turn into peddlers. So they continue to make money and stay ‘stoned’. “Such kids earn up to Rs 200 a day by peddling ganja,” an official of the city police told DTNext.

Sister Kannimaria, chief developmental officer of Asha Nivas, which is involved in social service activities across the city, said that the major problem they found among young children in Kannagi Nagar was that many were addicted to ganja and involved in peddling the stuff. “Some are addicted to other drugs too. We are trying our best to wean them off,” she said. Another resident of Kannagi Nagar, Shanthi (name changed) now does not allow her 12-year-old son to go out after she found out that he was becoming addicted to ganja and was also involved in the sales of the contraband. “I am trying my best not to lose him again to the gang. They first made my son an addict and then used him to peddle the stuff. If he refuses, they threaten to slash him with blades,” Shanthi said. 

The collapse of family structure has made these boys a soft target for such anti-social elements, say activists. There are several young children who are orphaned and are solely raised by the grandparents. It is they who fall prey to the tactics of the contraband mafia. “Most of them find it difficult even to get a day’s meal and are gullible to be lured into the trade. Nobody is there to take care and they do what they have been told,” Krishnaveni, another resident said.

A police official said only a strong government-level intervention to reform these children would help, as it is a complex issue involving their health and economical needs. “They should be assured minimum social security during their growing-up years,” he added. Very poor infrastructure available in the state regarding rehabilitation of arrested children have been a stumbling block for the police. Lack of training to police personnel to handle juveniles is also cites as a disadvantage. Police is said to be finding it difficult to extract information from such children to trace the larger network of ganja mafia.

Meanwhile, various social service organisations are providing counselling to these children and engaging them in other activities to get relieve them of the addiction. Dignity Foundation, Magic Bus Foundation and Asha Nivas have been trying to give better exposure to these young ones. They also try to inculcate interest in them in various activities such as sports. Police have stepped in to form sports clubs for these children where they are trained in football, kabaddi and boxing.