scorecardresearch
Add as a preferred source on Google
Monday, February 23, 2026
TopicDrug Abuse

Topic: Drug Abuse

Curious case of Zubair Bhat: Kashmiri youth’s mysterious death in Delhi, flashpoint in Srinagar

Family alleges torture and discrimination by Delhi Police, latter deny arresting him or even questioning him in any case.

God’s own country is high on MDMA. Kerala school, college students flood rehabs

Police, politicians and priests have amped up their efforts in recent months. From Operation D-Hunt to Operation Clean Slate, the state has intensified drug raids, crackdowns and seizures.

Beatings, forced labour, starvation—Haryana rehab centres are torture chambers

Drug rehabilitation has become a new sunrise sector in Haryana. Private centres are a money-making machine, while many families see them as a way to offload their struggling loved ones.

NCB, Delhi Police bust Noida drug factory ‘linked to Mexican cartel, set up by Tihar warden’

Cops seized around 95 kg of methamphetamine from factory in Noida. NCB officials said Mexican Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación vetted drugs produced.

Year after Matthew Perry death, spotlight on ‘Ketamine Queen’ Jasveen Sangha, set to stand trial in 2025

Sangha charged with supplying the ketamine that killed the Friends star. She has pleaded not guilty. Her bail was revoked after a judge deemed her a flight risk & danger to community.

Why Punjab has invoked a 36-yr-old law for the 1st time to crack down on drug lords, and how it works

Officials of Punjab Police's anti-narcotics task force say idea was to detain drug traffickers who have multiple cases registered against them under NDPS Act but were out on bail.

Punjab’s new drug problem is pregabalin. Cheap, unchecked, gives a ‘gentle high’

Pregabalin demand surged during the pandemic when the production and sale of opiates, heroin were affected by the lockdowns. It's popular with school, college-going students.

‘Udta Tripura’ — HIV cases are soaring in hill state, with youth under 30 worst hit

In Part 1 of series on India's emerging HIV-AIDS hotspots & AIDS control programme, ThePrint looks at Tripura, which saw highest rise in rate of annual new HIV cases between 2010 & 2023.

Synthetic drug ‘50 times more potent than heroin’ — why fentanyl figured in Biden-Xi meet

This is the edited transcript of ThePrint CutTheClutter Ep 1349, published on 18 November 2023, on role of fentanyl in US opioid crisis & why it figured in Biden-Xi meeting.

Mann’s I-Day speech brings drug abuse back in focus: CM seeks 1 yr to end menace, Oppn attacks ‘lies’

CM Bhagwant Mann promises Punjab will be drug-free by next Independence Day. Oppn says AAP's poll promise was to eradicate drug abuse within 3-4 months of coming to power.

On Camera

Why Modi’s Israel visit has become the stage for a Knesset vs Judiciary battle

Unless Chief Justice Isaac Amit receives an official invitation—as parliamentary protocol dictates—Israel's opposition is threatening to abstain from Modi's address to the Knesset.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

Post-elections, Bangladesh Army shuffles top military & intel posts, defence adviser in India recalled

Orders issued by Army Headquarters reassign key operational commanders and senior intelligence officials, including the head of DGFI, the country’s premier military intelligence agency.

No country is ever fully sovereign. Cold War era taught India its real meaning

India’s fraught neighbourhood places multiple constraints on its strategic choices. It leaves no time to take a deep breath, lean back and reset.