Haryana has no patience for woke narrative on drug abuse and trade. It’s a war

Haryana is hunting down traffickers, dismantling networks, and breaking the cycle of addiction before it takes hold. Take your poison elsewhere—in Haryana, the game is over.

Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau's Sirsa Unit cops pose with two smugglers and 157 kg of ganja recovered from railway parcels in December 2024 | Photo: X/@ncbhry

Haryana is not here for a debate. As the world indulges in woke discussions about decriminalising “soft” drugs, arguing that legalisation and harm reduction are the way forward, Haryana has taken a different path against drug trade—relentless enforcement, aggressive intervention, and an absolute refusal to tolerate the drug business in any form.

Haryana’s war against drugs is not being waged in press conferences or think-tank discussions. The state isn’t waiting for studies or policy panels to suggest half-measures. Nor is it following the West’s lead in making marijuana mainstream or treating drug abuse as a lifestyle choice.

Haryana sees the drug challenge for what it is—organised crime, human exploitation, and a direct threat to its youth. And so it has chosen to fight, not compromise. This street-level, intelligence-driven, muscle-backed offensive is dismantling networks, seizing drug money, and bringing traffickers to their knees.

Haryana’s drug crisis: A state under siege

For decades, Haryana has been in the crosshairs of the regional narcotics trade. Sitting at the intersection of Punjab’s drug highways, Rajasthan’s porous borders, and Delhi’s massive consumer market, Haryana didn’t just remain a transit point but became a target.

After heroin, opium, and cannabis-based drugs, the state is now challenged by synthetic drugs—lab-made, highly addictive, and far deadlier—making their way into the supply chain. LSD, MDMA, and methamphetamine have started appearing in seizures, signalling a new front in this battle.

But Haryana is responding with force.

Between 2020 and 2024, the state registered 16,781 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and arrested 25,446 people. Of these, 1,767 cases involved large-scale commercial drug operations, leading to the arrest of 3,714 traffickers—many of whom will spend years, if not decades, behind bars.

The state isn’t just going after the traffickers—it’s also purging the flow of money. Over Rs 52 crore worth of assets linked to drug trade have been seized, 111 properties linked to narcotics operations have been demolished, while 65 repeat offenders have been put in preventive detention under the PIT-NDPS Act.

The message is clear: no deal will be made, no truce struck, and no quarter given to traffickers.

Haryana war on drugs—No woke decriminalisation

Across the world, there is a growing movement to decriminalise drug, with the assumption that war on drugs has “failed,” and a more “compassionate” approach—reducing penalties, regulating substances, and treating addiction as a personal choice—is required.

Haryana has no patience for this woke narrative.

The state does not believe in “regulating” drug abuse, does not buy the argument that “soft” drugs are harmless and should be legalised. It does not entertain the idea that traffickers will suddenly start following rules if given a legal market.

Instead, Haryana has doubled down on strict enforcement, intelligence-based policing, and swift prosecution.

The Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau (HSNCB), formed in 2020, has become the nerve centre of this war. It runs the HAWK portal, tracking every major drug player in the state, and works with national intelligence agencies to dismantle syndicates before they can take root.

The judiciary has followed suit. According to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, conviction rates under NDPS Act have surged from 48 per cent in 2023 to 54 per cent in 2024. Eight fast-track courts are now dedicated to NDPS cases, with four more on the way.

Haryana has also assigned dedicated officers who ensure that trials stay on track, preventing legal delays and procedural loopholes. Under the Chinhit Apradh Scheme, key cases are now directly monitored by deputy commissioners, superintendents of police, and senior legal officers.

There is no talk of “restorative justice” here, no efforts to “understand the trafficker’s perspective”. If you smuggle drugs, you are hunted down, prosecuted, and locked away. Simple.

Winning hearts and minds: A parallel battle

Haryana’s war on drugs isn’t just a police operation—it’s a full-scale societal pushback. The state understands that while it can break supply chains, it must also crush demand.

This has led to one of the largest anti-drug awareness campaigns in the country, ensuring that communities actively resist narcotics instead of passively watching their spread.

In schools, the battle begins early. The ‘Chakravyuh’ initiative, an interactive educational escape room set up at the Police DAV Public School in Ambala, teaches children how to navigate real-world drug pressures. It uses an immersive environment to simulate high-risk situations.

This initiative is already showing promise, and the government is considering expanding it to more institutions. In colleges and universities, the ‘Ram Gurukul Gaman’ initiative—a musical drama—engages students through art, exposing the harsh realities of drug abuse and gang culture.

Public outreach is relentless. The ‘Nasha Mukt Haryana’ campaign has declared 3,406 villages and 809 urban wards drug-free, ensuring that local communities actively participate in rooting out addiction and trafficking. In 2024 alone, 1.67 million people participated in 2,572 awareness programmes, ranging from mass marathons to ‘Raahgiri’ events, reinforcing the message that resistance to drugs must come from society itself.

Some strategies have been brutally effective in their simplicity. The ‘Namak-Lota’ campaign has relied on community pressure and superstition to push out small-time drug peddlers, using deeply ingrained social beliefs as a psychological weapon.

Meanwhile, the ‘Nasha Mukt Jeevan – Nayaab Jeevan’ bucket challenge has taken the battle online—social media influencers, actors, and singers have joined forces, drawing over 3.5 million views, making anti-drug messaging viral among Haryana’s youth.

Rehabilitation: Closing the loop

Unlike other regions, Haryana does not treat addicts as criminals—but neither does it treat addiction as a casual choice. The state is rapidly expanding rehabilitation infrastructure, increasing the number of de-addiction centres from 98 in 2021 to 130 in 2024.

Encouragingly, outpatient treatments are rising, meaning more people are seeking help early, reducing the need for hospitalisations. To ensure those who recover don’t relapse, Haryana has started integrating vocational training into rehabilitation programmes, giving former addicts the means to rebuild their lives.

There is no political correctness in Haryana’s war against drugs. There are no soft policies, no selective decriminalisation, no feel-good experiments with “responsible” narcotics use.

The state isn’t talking about “safe spaces” for drug users or regulated markets for cannabis—it is hunting down traffickers, dismantling networks, and breaking the cycle of addiction before it takes hold.

To those hoping for leniency, the answer is clear: there will be none.

To those pushing for softer laws, Haryana’s response is a bulldozer, a courtroom conviction, and a fast-track sentence.

And to those trying to flood Haryana with narcotics, the state has one message: Take your poison elsewhere—in Haryana, your game is over.

The author is Additional DGP and head of Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau. He tweets @opsinghips. Views are personal.

(Edited by Prashant)