The police department, however, thinks otherwise, believing that though narcotics, stimulants and depressants were being used, the incidence was not at all alarming. ``Surat is neither prominent on the drug map of the country nor are narcotics being pushed into the city on a regular basis'', P C Thakur, police commissioner in-charge, told Express Newsline.

But the cases that land up at the Parivartan Drug Rehabilitation Centre in the Old Civil Hospital are nevertheless disturbing. Many patients claim, on the condition of anonymity, that there was not one area of the city where drugs -- including brown sugar, heroin, charas, ganja, mandrax, etc -- are not available.

Arunaben Thakkar, director of the rehabilitation centre, says, ``While we have patients from all over the country, there are a number of patients from the city currently undergoing treatment here. It seems that drug abuse is the most common in the railway station and Mithi Khali areas.''

Pessimism writ large on her face, the director warns, ``The drug problem is on the rise and unless something very effective is done to counter it right now, things might go out of hand soon''.

Interestingly, a couple of recent incidents also indicate police culpability in the drug trade. Says a rehabilitation worker, ``One drug peddler was earning Rs 1 lakh a month and reportedly gave away 60 per cent of his earnings to the police. When he was being treated here, the police used to visit him regularly and urge him to run away. One day, six years ago, he did.''

In another case, it is alleged, the police arrested two drug peddlers, Vicky and Raju Thakkar, with small packets of brown sugar. Subsequent raids at their residence also unearthed another lot of drugs. Three days later, however, reports said the packets did not contain drugs but talcum powder.Counters Thakur, ``The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act is one of the most stringent laws in the country today. Moreover, we have to go by the FSL report on drugs.''

Agreeing that Gujarat did come in the Golden Cresent curve (Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan), he admits a certain amount of drugs could find their way into the state and the city. ``There is always the trickle-down effect'', he adds.

When asked specifically about the Mithi Khali and station areas, Thakur claims the police were maintaining a strict watch on the activities of drug peddlers there. ``Even chemists are handing out cough syrups and other stimulants, depressants and tranquilisers without prescriptions. That is a little too difficult to control'', says Thakur.

Though the NDPS even prescribes death sentences, along with jail terms of 14 years, if drug peddlers are proven guilty twice, and the commissioner has shown his readiness to book drug peddlers under the PASA, drug peddling continued to thrive in the select pockets of the city.