and, if so, the timeframe for its implementation.Pathanmajras question initially elicited laughter from the house, including the Speaker, Kultar Singh Sandhwan. The minister responded that there was no proposal to cultivate poppy in the state. The MLA has asked a question which has put a glow on the faces of many here. I am also entering an age where I may need such things, he said, further fueling the laughter.NO ONE DIES OF OPIUMThe Speaker reminisced about the existence of opium vends in Punjab, which have since been closed, and requested the minister to inform him later about when they were shut down.Speaking after the ministers answer, Pathanmajra stated, Drugs like smack and tablets have destroyed the youth of Punjab. The situation has worsened after 2007, and now the situation is such that 136 de-addiction centres have opened in Punjab. In previous times, people used to take traditional drugs and do their work too. No one can say that someone they knew died due to opium or poppy husk consumption. From 2020 to March 31, 2023, around 266 people have died due to addiction to synthetic drugs. From March 2023 to March 2024, 159 more people have died. Many countries in the world have legalized some drugs, and these are traditional. Poppy cultivation is already taking place in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. If done in Punjab, it will increase the revenue of the state.The MLA further suggested that if poppy cultivation cannot be allowed, then at least vends should be opened in the state to save the youth of Punjab. He claimed that the opposition also supported this view but was afraid to voice it for fear of being ridiculed.Supporting Pathanmajras contention, another AAP MLA, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, stated that drugs, especially synthetic ones, have been the biggest problem in Punjab for the last 15 years or so, causing great harm to the youth. I fully support the point raised by my colleague regarding cultivation of poppy. Our elders have been partaking opium or poppy husk and used to do all sorts of hard work in the field, and no one used to die of it. I urge the government to seriously consider poppy cultivation. Many vaid and doctors prescribe opium for patients of paralytic attack, he said.Later, a third AAP MLA, Kulwant Singh Bazigar, also supported the demand for allowing the cultivation of poppy in the state, citing the loss of many mothers sons due to synthetic drug overdoses.AAP MLA Fauja Singh Sarari informed the house that when Giani Zail Singh was the Chief Minister of the state, a notification was issued by the state government for shutting down the opium vends in the state.The contentious debate in the Punjab Assembly has sparked a broader discussion on the merits and drawbacks of controlled cultivation and distribution of traditional substances as a potential measure to combat the synthetic drug crisis plaguing the states youth.
