Avinash Bhaduri, a brilliant writer and a warm human being and an incredible host, has been fighting poor health and a poorer life. The cause: drugs. The fallout: separation from wife, parental inattention and disruptive loneliness. He says he doesn’t get sleep easily. And that is unfortunately understandable because he has destroyed the sleep of all those people, who loved him, by abjectly surrendering to the satanic pleasure of designer drugs. I feel it is retribution. Sad, but we have no control over such human situations.

He used to smoke in parties for the kick of it, but gradually the drug was burning him and his life was going up in smoke. When warned he never listened. He displayed a brand of arrogance that could be attributed to his family wealth and attractive presence.

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...But gradually the drug was burning him and his life was going up in smoke

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Tens of thousands of lives, like Bhaduri, are being ruined by drugs. The agony deepens when we see their near and dear ones suffer. Some of who are not only emotionally, but also financially dependant on the victims.

Drug thrills one, kills many. The addict should never lose sight of that.

Killing is not always about deaths. For the ordinary an empty wallet, unpaid bills, cold ovens, empty plates are forms of demise. The big difference is that these deaths can’t be wrapped up in white sheets and left with God. One has to face them on a regular basis.

The picture is grim if the world statistics on the drugs scenario is taken into account. With a turnover of around $500 billion, it is the third largest business in the world, next to petroleum and arms trade.

Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

With most drug users being in the productive age group of 18-35 years, the loss in terms of human potential is incalculable.

Today, there is no part of the world that is free from the curse of drug trafficking and drug addiction.

India too is caught in this vicious circle of drug abuse, and the number of drug addicts is increasing day by day.

According to a UN report, one million heroin addicts are registered in India, and unofficially there are as many as five million. What started off as casual use among a minuscule population of a high-income group youth in the metro has permeated to all sections of society.

The disintegration of the old joint family system, absence of love and care in modern families where both parents are working, decline of old religious and moral values led to a rise in the number of drug addicts. But we have to kill the lusty kick before it kills us.