The Supreme Court has dismissed petition filed challenging provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 that criminalizes the personal use of substances.

The Division Bench comprising of newly appointed CJI, UU Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat ruled that the matter is 'policy issues' and further clarified that the Act has a provision for rehabilitation of persons using drugs for personal consumption and their sentencing is barred in law.

"What is called the personal consumption limit, he is not actually punished with a severe sentence. You want that part also gone? What will happen then is that drug peddlers will be peddling the drug in that (personal consumption limit) quantity."

The Bench was referring to Section 39 NDPS Act which empowers the Court to release a person convicted for the offence of personal consumption having regard to his/her age, gender, character and also on condition that the offender will undergo de-addiciton treatment.

The petitioner had argued that personal consumption of drugs being a criminal offence as per the NDPS Act further enhances stigma and prevented the treatment of health issues which were related to drug use.

He averred that while punishing people who supplied or peddled drugs is fair, people who simply consume them rather need help (mostly in form of medical attention). It was his contention that they should receive the required aid instead of punishment.

Bringing up the stats, he informed the Court that not less than 70% cases gets filed against drug users instead of drug peddlers which ruins their lives as they lost means of employment, their reputation, etc.

He submitted that the NDPS Act has been diverted from its objective of cracking down on the drug peddlers.

The Court however wasn't convinced with the arguements and therefore dismissed the petition with above reasoning.

What is the punishment for Drug Comsumption in India?

Possession of drugs is a criminal offence in India and Section 27 of the NDPS Act prescribes imprisonment of up to a year or a fine of up to Rs 20,000, or both, for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.

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