Since the 1960s, drug abuse has occupied a prominent place in the public consciousness and has become a heightened concern. Public alertness about drugs and their pernicious consequences has been influenced largely by awareness campaigns and programs focussed on enlightening the public about the dangers of drug abuse and how individuals and societies can overcome drug addiction problems. However, drug abuse continues to be a major global problem and many countries today are drug-oriented societies, seeking pleasure in chemicals of all kinds.
The unabated drug proliferation has prompted the UN human rights experts to change strategies by calling on the international community to bring an end to the “war on drugs” and promote drug policies that are firmly anchored in human rights. Ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, 2022, the experts issued the following statement:
“Data and experience accumulated by UN experts have shown that the ‘war on drugs’ undermines health and social wellbeing and wastes public resources while failing to eradicate the demand for illegal drugs and the illegal drug market. Worse, this ‘war’ has engendered narco-economies at the local, national and regional levels in several instances to the detriment of national development. Such policies have far-reaching negative implications for the widest range of human rights, including the right to personal liberty, freedom from forced labour, from ill-treatment and torture, fair trial rights, the rights to health including palliative treatment and care, right to adequate housing, freedom from discrimination, right to clean and healthy environment, right to culture and freedoms of expression, religion, assembly and association and the right to equal treatment before the law.”
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its 2021 report stated that the “war on drugs” had resulted in mass incarceration through racial profiling, search and seize laws and procedures, excessive pretrial detention, disproportionate sentencing, and the criminalisation of people who use drugs, including pregnant women in some countries. The report also revealed that there were widespread rights violations associated with the enforcement of drug laws, including unlawful imprisonment, the trial of children and adolescents as “adults”, torture and ill-treatment, lack of fair trial guarantees, extra-judicial killings, and abusive use of the death penalty.
Drug abuse has complex biological and social determinants, and substance use disorders are medical conditions involving disruption of key brain circuits. Presently, nations across the world rely heavily on drug awareness programs, prevention and treatment services apart from criminal action, involving arrests and imprisonment, to control the drug problem. Since these methods have not yielded the desired results, it is time to change how we, as a society, address drug abuse.
One of the serious drawbacks of the present education system is the near-total absence of classes in moral science and ethics, in schools and colleges. Generations of students have passed out without any exposure to ethical living, not only for their own safety and welfare but also for the society and nation. The excessive importance given to the acquisition of wealth as the paramount indicator of success and glory has corrupted young minds into mistakenly believing that education and status in society depend upon the wealth accumulated. This has led to unhealthy competition among students to acquire jobs in multinational companies abroad and boast about this on social media and other public platforms. Those unable to withstand the competition for high marks, high-flying jobs and salaries in crores of Rupees, end up seeking solace in drugs and alcohol. Poor achievers, dejected lovers, and unemployed lakhs add to the population of those seeking solace in various kinds of drugs. An education system that does not teach values, morals, discipline and ethical behaviour, is laying the foundation for a society of frustrated students and just plain future pleasure seekers.
Hedonism becomes the supreme pursuit of everybody, and their understanding of a successful life is measured by the quantum of enjoyment derivable from food, sleep, sex, fashion dressing, exotic fun-filled vacations, alcohol consumption, gorging on non-vegetarian food and abusing drugs. As a result, the world is becoming hypersexualised, obsessed with materialism and immediate gratification. Cosmo Kramer, the character created by Jerry Seinfeld, echoes the modern-day attitude when he asks, “Why fly a kite when you can just pop a pill?”
Educators, psychologists, and social workers are all exploring religious scriptures, philosophies, and books on ethics, seeking profound wisdom to save the current generation from succumbing to the scourge of drugs, thereby leading to the collapse of human civilisation. An eminently suitable book for the present age is the ‘Thirukkural’, a repository of universal wisdom, written by Sage Thiruvalluvar, is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or ‘kurals’, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on virtue, wealth and love, respectively. It is a treatise on ethics and morality, composed in the Sangam Age, supposed to have flourished between 300 BCE and 300 ADE in South India, especially Tamil Nadu.
Sage Thiruvalluvar in his magnum opus Thirukkural makes a profound statement in Verse 421 that, “Wisdom is a weapon of defence, an inner fortress no foe can raze.” Acquiring wisdom should be the pre-requisite for any individual, for it is the best defence mechanism that no enemy can breach. Verse 428 states, “It is folly not to fear what ought to be feared. The wise dread what ought to be dreaded.” Those who do not cultivate wisdom and commit the folly of not fearing the destructive potential of drugs are committing a grave mistake. In Chapter 93, Verse 921, there is a caution that, “They shall not be respected nor feared, and they shall lose their glory – they who are in love with alcohol.” During the Sangam period itself, there was alcohol addiction, as can be guessed from this Verse. Alcohol is the medium through which drugs are commonly ingested, and if we extrapolate this Verse to our present era, the obvious conclusion will be that those who consume intoxicants will lose their self-respect and esteem in society. Verse 925 is a severe admonishment that “They have no sense of consequences, those who pay to lose their senses.” All intoxicants, be they alcohol or drugs, are purchased for a hefty price from peddlers and traffickers at exorbitant prices. The Sage is questioning, should you pay to lose your senses? A very prudent question that is valid for all times, for all ages and of global relevance. We live in a strange age, where governments encourage alcohol consumption, as the taxes bring in revenue which is needed to splurge on the extravagant lifestyles of politicians and bureaucrats. In many states, bars and wine parlours are being opened exclusively for ladies. The more the alcohol consumption, the more the revenue accrued. That is why the Sage in Verse 421 supra, advises the cultivation of wisdom.
The pernicious triad of wine, women and wealth has been exhaustively written by many celebrated writers and poets in various languages. Sage Thiruvalluvar in Verse 920 of Thirukkural states, “Deceitful women, drink and dice, are friends of those wantonly dumping their wealth.” Addiction to alcohol and gambling will be exploited by opportunistic women to their advantage. In this entrapment, all wealth will be lost. In the present age, men and women, boys and girls, all are getting caught in the vice-like grip of drugs. School children are being targeted by drug peddlers relentlessly. It is a global epidemic. The sagacious counsel of the Sage stands out as a shining beacon light for all nations. Echoing the words of Sage Thiruvalluvar are the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Women and wine, game and deceit, make the wealth small, and the want great.” Sadhguru also makes a profound statement, “The line between sanity and insanity is very thin. You keep crossing it with anger, hatred, jealousy, alcohol or drugs.”
The wisdom of Valluvar is in his advocacy of self-restraint by every individual. He has never favoured any kind of repressive measures either by the State, society or family. The individual is responsible for all his actions. What he has stated about gambling in Kural (verse) 939 – “The gambler will lose his dress, wealth, food, fame, and learning” is applicable in entirety to drug addicts also. If schools, colleges and those organising drug awareness programs, include the above verses of the Thirukkural, students can be enlightened about what awaits them if they consume drugs.
This article has been written after obtaining valuable guidance from G. Rajendran IRS (Rtd), Former Member Settlement Commission and an eminent expert on Thirukkural.
The author is IRS (Rtd), Ph.D. (Narcotics), Former Director General, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN). Views expressed are personal.
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