With over 500 cases in every district, Kerala’s drug menace is widespread and escalating

In 2022, every district in Kerala recorded at least 500 cases under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. This was not seen in any other State

Over the past three years, there has been a sudden surge in drug abuse in Kerala, sparking widespread concern. In March, the Kerala High Court warned of the “poisonous fangs of the drug mafia”, while the Governor met with university Vice-Chancellors to address student drug use.

The State Higher Education Department launched a ‘Love-a-Thon’ campaign against substance abuse, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged new Sub-Inspectors to take a lead in combating the drug trade. Last month, the State Assembly suspended regular business to discuss the growing crisis.

The reactions are well-founded. Chart 1 shows the State-wise number of cases filed under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, between 2017 and 2024. The number of cases under the Act surged from 5,695 in 2021 to 26,619 in 2022 and surpassed 30,000 in 2023. In 2024, over 27,701 cases were recorded.

Chart 1 | Number of cases filed under the NDPS Act

While drug abuse has long been a concern in Kerala and in States such as Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, the recent spike is alarming. For instance, in 2023, Maharashtra, which had recorded the second-highest number of cases under the NDPS Act, recorded only half as many cases as Kerala.

In 2024, the gap widened further, with Punjab recording the second-highest number of cases that year — yet only a third of Kerala’s total. Several States appear to show a decline in cases in 2023 and 2024. This should be read with caution, as the latest data may be provisional.

Chart 2 highlights the severity of the crisis more clearly. It plots the number of cases filed under the NDPS Act in 2024 for every one lakh people in a State (case rate) on the horizontal axis. It plots the absolute number of cases on the vertical axis. The circle sizes correspond to population estimates for 2022.