By IANS,
New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Asking for a humanitarian approach towards the rehabilitation of drug users, activists Thursday demanded a consultation with various stakeholders on the law used to deal with addicts.
Lawyers Collective said the present Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, was focused more on punishing those found with drugs than rehabilitating them.
“While the focus should be on rehabilitation of the drug addict, the whole focus of the NDPS act is on punishing those found with drugs. The law should be more humane, and approach towards rehabilitation of the victim,” Lawyers Collective member Tripti Tandon said.
“We have heard that the finance ministry is amending the NDPS act, but we don’t know if they are making any amendments regarding the provisions for rehabilitation, or decriminalising drug use,” Tandon said.
“In Portugal, the number of growth in number of drug users stopped after decriminalisation of drug use. It will also help adicts willing to undergo rehabilitation,” she said.