The killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa and the death of a 27-year-old man in Ludhiana after he allegedly consumed intoxicant capsules have brought renewed focus on the sale of habit-forming medicines through chemist shops. A new report on Punjab’s drug crisis points to the scale of pharmaceutical-drug seizures in the state, rising heroin seizures, an increase in juvenile cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and gaps in treatment coverage.

Released earlier this month by PANJ Foundation, an independent, non-partisan policy research think tank based in Punjab, the report — State of Punjab: Data Story of 15 Years — draws on official data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), parliamentary replies and government records.

Of the 5.13 crore pharmaceutical-drug units seized across India in 2024, Punjab accounted for 2.94 crore units, the…