Bihar needs to talk about prohibition, addiction

As an investigation in this newspaper shows, the substance abuse problem in Bihar has taken new forms and has reached alarming proportions

Mere prohibition and criminalisation, as the experience of the last decade shows, can make matters worse.

3 min readOct 24, 2026 06:13 AM IST First published on: Oct 24, 2026 at 06:13 AM IST

In 2016, months after the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government began its third term in Bihar, the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act came into effect. The political logic behind the law banning and criminalising the consumption of alcohol was plain enough. In his first two terms, Nitish Kumar had built up considerable support among women by addressing what many saw as a broken law-and-order system. Schemes like the Mukhyamantri Cycle Yojana gave women greater mobility and independence. Addiction, in its worst forms, takes a toll not merely on the addict but also on their family and the broader community. Banning alcohol was part of addressing the concerns of women voters. Prohibition, however, is not the silver bullet it was made out to be — its failures are well documented across countries and other Indian states. Now, as an investigation in this newspaper shows, the substance abuse problem in Bihar has taken new forms and has reached alarming proportions. For Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, the first to hold the office from the BJP, the growing use of narcotics is both a policy and political challenge.

The figures for arrests under the National Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, seizures of synthetic drugs, and the growing numbers at the all-too-few de-addiction centres in the state, taken together, paint a disturbing picture. In the first five months of this year, 1,905 cases were registered under the Act. In 2019, this number was 697. “Tablets” seized have also seen an exponential rise — from 29,762 in 2022 to 9.29 lakh in the first five months of this year. These range from opioids and sedatives to psychotropic drugs. Hard, synthetic drugs like heroin, brown sugar and new varieties of these like “kota” follow a similar trajectory. The spread is also geographic. Behind each statistic is a tragedy, tales of families torn apart and a rehabilitation system pushed to the brink. The story of narcotics substance abuse — which often traps the young, particularly young men, in addiction — is unfolding alongside the illegal liquor market. In the 10 years since prohibition was introduced, it has led to an average of 196 arrests a day.

On the law-and-order front, the state government has acted: It has a Special Task Force on narcotics and the Prohibition and State Narcotics Control Bureau, set up in 2025, has been merged with the police’s prohibition wing. But, as Kundan Krishnan, director general of Bihar Police’s Special Branch and Operations, told this newspaper: “… mere police action will not suffice in the present situation… Only a community effort backed by the state government can contain the growing menace.” The Choudhary government has its task cut out. It must address the social and psychological disease of addiction, taking society along with it. Mere prohibition and criminalisation, as the experience of the last decade shows, can make matters worse.