Punjab’s prisons are awash with de-addiction pills. But is that good news?

In 2017, the Punjab government introduced a new therapy for victims of drug abuse.

It involved putting users of opioids like heroin – colloquially called chitta – on a combination of less potent opioids to wean them off their addiction.

The substitute – buprenorphine and naloxone pills – was meant to be taken orally and under medical supervision. According to a psychiatrist who works in one of Punjab’s central jails, the therapy drastically reduced the vulnerability of an addict.

“Firstly, there is no intravenous use because of which an addict is likely to get infected with HIV, hepatitis or other diseases,” he said. “There is almost zero chance of drug overdose death.”

The therapy was rolled out across more than 529 clinics over the years and met with limited success. In November 2023, the Punjab government informed the Assembly that around 80-90% of patients who complete this treatment at the state’s Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment clinics relapse into addiction.

Strikingly, in the last four years, the supply of buprenorphine pills to Punjab’s prisons has surged and the number of inmates registered with deaddiction clinics has doubled, the Punjab government’s figures show.

But is that good news?

The Punjab and Haryana High Court does not seem to think so. It recently asked the government to explain...

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