The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,1985

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 History
Erstwhile principal Acts :
- the Opium Act 1857
- the Opium Act 1878 and
- the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930

- Until the independence, cannabis consumption was not

regarded as an issue of major social concern in India, with
little or no official mention of excessive use.

- Prior to present legislation, focus of Indian drug policies

was control of drug trade and collection of revenues
through licensed sales of only controlled opium
 - Signatory to the UN Single Convention(1961)

- broadened their scope to include cannabis and opium.

The NDPS Act is designed to fulfill India's treaty obligations under the
- Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961
- Convention on Psychotropic Substances , 1971 and
- United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic substances.

NDPS Act quietly put on statute books with little national debate .

Only provision for non-medical cultural use within the 1985 Act was that
drinks made from cannabis leaves were to be sanctioned
Implementation of NDPS Act is handed by various agencies :

1. Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) is the chief law enforcement agency of

India responsible for fighting drug trafficking.

2. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence,

3. Customs and Central Excise Dept

4. Central Bureau of Narcotics,

5. Border Security Force and other Central agencies and several State
agencies

Personnel involved

Reward benefits
 Stimulants Depressants Narcotics

• Nicotine Barbiturates Morphine

• Caffeine Alcohol Heroin
• Cocaine
• Amphetamines
• Methamphetamine (ICE)

Hallucinogens Inhalants

LSD
Mescaline
Psilocybin
Designer Drugs (XTC, MDMA)
"opium derivative" means

(a) medicinal opium, that is, opium which has undergone the processes
necessary to adapt it for medicinal use in accordance with the
requirements of the Indian Pharmacopoeia ;

(b) prepared opium, that is, any product of opium by any series of operations
designed to transform opium into an extract suitable for smoking ;

(c) phenanthrene alkaloids, namely, morphine, codeine, thebaine and their

salts;

(d) diacetylmorphine, that is, the alkaloid also known as diamorphine or

heroin and its salts; and

(e) all preparations containing more than 0.2 per cent. of morphine or
containing any diacetylmorphine;
 OPIUM CULTIVATION AND REGULATION IN INDIA

- Notification of the selected tracts where such cultivation will be

permitted and - The essential condition for issue of licence is, fulfillment
of minimum qualifying yield (MQY) criterion, specified in number of
kilogrammes per hectare.

-The licence among other conditions, specifies the maximum area in which
the opium crop can be sown.

-The crop year starts from 1 October and ends on 30 September each year.
- Some place where opium is grown are Chittourgarh in Rajasthan;
Mandsour, Ratlam, Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh; and Ghazipur in Uttar
Pradesh.

- Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN),is responsible for overall supervision of

cultivation.
- extraction of opium takes place during the months of February and
March
-Farmers use the traditional method ,a process known as lancing. The opium
latex which oozes out and congeals in the night is scraped and collected
manually the next morning. Each poppy capsule is given three to four lancings.

- All such opium collected is required to be necessarily tendered to the

government, at specially set up opium collection centres, in early April. Opium
is checked for quality and consistency and weighed at the centres.

- 90% paid. Final payment is made after laboratory testing at opium factory
after confirming that no adulterants have been found.

- All the opium procured is sent to Government Opium and Alkaloid Factories
situated at Neemuch and Ghazipur.

- Opium is dried and processed at these factories for export and is also used
for extraction of various products like Codeine phosphate, Thebaine
 Amendments

The Act has been amended twice - in 1988 and 2001 .

GIVEN BELOW
A person, who assists a narcotics trafficker in concealing the narcotics in his
apartment so that the trafficker may avoid detection, is involved in illicit traffic.

It is true that opium is substance, which once seen and smelt can never be
forgotten because opium possesses a characteristic appearance and a very strong
and characteristic scent. It is possible for people to identify opium without having
to subject the product to a chemical analysis. It is only when opium is in a mixture
so diluted that its essential characteristics are not easily visible or capable of
being apprehended by the senses that a chemical analysis may be
necessary
SECTION 8 : prohibition of operation ( cultivaton or manufacture of drugs)

SECTION 8 (1)(C ) : prohibition of certain operations. No person shall :Produce,

manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume,
import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or
transship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance

SECTION 31 : ENHANCED punishment for offences after the previous

convictions

SECTION 37 : offences are to cognizable and non-bailable.

SECTION 50: conditions under search of persons will be conducted

 Section 27
Punishment for consumption of narcotic drug or
psychotropic.substances
Whoever consumes any narcotic drug(cocaine, morphine, diacetyl-morphine etc.)
or any psychotropic substance as specified in Official Gazette shall be punishable

R.I –upto one year, and/ or fine upto Rs. 20,000.

 Section 31A
Death penalty for certain offences after previous
convictions

Any person who has been convicted of commission or attempt to commit, or

abetment of, or criminal conspiracy to commit, any of the offences
punishable under section 15 to section 25(both inclusive) or section 27A, Is
subsequently convicted of :(a) production, manufacture, possession,
transportation, import into India, export from India or trans-shipment shall
be punishable with death
Section 41.
Power to issue warrant and authorization

Section 42.
Power of entry, search, seizure and arrest without warrant or authorization

Section 43.
Power of seizure and arrest in public place.-Any officer of any of the
departments mentioned in section 42 may conduct the arrest.
 Section 64A
IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION TO ADDICTS
VOLUNTEERING FOR TREATMENT

Any addict, charged with an offence involving small quantity, voluntarily seeks to
undergo medical treatment for de-addiction from a hospital or an institution
maintained or recognized by the Government or a local authority and undergoes
such treatment shall not be liable to prosecution under section 27 or under any
other section for offences involving small quantity of narcotic drugs
or psychotropic substances.
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Immunity from prosecution may be withdrawn if the addict does not undergo
the complete treatment for de-addiction
Following factors for imposing a higher than the minimum
punishment

(a) use or threat of use of violence or arms

(b) offender holds a public office and taken advantage of office
(c) minors affected by offence or used for commission of offence.
(d) offence is committed in an educational institution or social
service facility or in the immediate vicinity.
(e) belongs to organized international /criminal group.
(f) involved in other illegal activities.
 WHY ALCOHOL IS NOT INCLUDED UNDER THE ACT

-- prevailing social acceptance even for frequent self-induced intoxication

-- the high revenues earned by the Government on the sale of alcoholic

beverages

-- prevalence of illicit and locally brewed undistilled forms of alcohol is

very high in society

-- there may be differences in the clinical course of alcohol dependence

contrary to other drugs like opium which have been included in NDPS
Precursor Control in India
Chemicals frequently used in the manufacture of illicit narcotic drugs
and psychotropic substances are referred to as precursors.
-- large number of legitimate uses
-- small fraction of the total production is sufficient to meet the requirements
of the illicit drug industry.

The UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic

Substances, 1988 (1988 Convention for short) identifies the following 23
precursors as the chemicals which need to be controlled :

Acetic Anhydride , Acetone

Potassium permanganate
Anthranilic acid , N -acetylanthranilic acid,
Ethyl ether, Ephedrine, Ergometrine, Norephedrine, Piperonal, Pseudoephedrine
Phenylacetic acid, Hydrochloric acid ,
Isosafrole , Safrole , Piperidine ,
Lysergic acid , Sulphuric acid ,
3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone, Toluene 1-phenyl-2-propanone
.
In India , precursors are controlled under three different Acts and by three
different agencies as follows:

Controls under the NDPS (Regulation of Controlled Substances) Order,

1993: This order issued under Section 9A of the NDPS Act,1985 requires
manufacturers, distributors, sellers, importers, exporters and consumers
of specified controlled substances to maintain records and file quarterly
returns with the Narcotics Control Bureau.
Precursors covered : Acetic anhydride, N-acetyl anthranilic acid, Ephedrine
and Pseudoephedrine and Anthranilic acid

Controls imposed under the EXIM policy:

under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992
imposes restrictions on the import and export of goods. Export of seven
precursors is subject to a “No Objection Certificate” and import of three
precursors is restricted.
 --Export of Acetic anhydride, Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine, Methyl ethyl
ketone, 1-Phenyl-2-Propanone, 3,4 methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone and
Potassium permanganate require a “No Objection Certificate” from the
Narcotics Commissioner.
-- The import of acetic anhydride, ergometrine, ergotamine and piperonal also
require a “No Objection Certificate” from the Narcotics Commissioner.

Controls under Section 11 of the Customs Act 1962 : The goods specified under
this section are subject to intensive checks in the specified areas by the
Customs officers. Acetic anhydride has been notified as a specified substance
under this section . Broadly, the special measures under this section require all
persons who own, possess or transport acetic anhydride to maintain records
and notify the Customs officers of the details of quantities held and
transported.