Middle-class youth addicted to affordable drugs

Saturday night's rave party in Banjara Hills, which was busted by city cops has exposed a new, disturbing trend that has the city in its clutch — MDMA and LSD addiction! The private bash organised in an apartment on Road Number 10, Banjara Hills, that saw the arrest of two girls, two guys and an Ugandan peddler Donald, was attended by a small, exclusive group of around 15 friends, most of whom are habitual drug abusers. The cops seized around 14 grams of cocaine, 10 packets of cube LSD, 10 small pills of micro LSD, five grams of MDMA drug and four LSD dots.

Tripping gets cheaper for the middle class

After the crackdown on the city's cocaine nexus curbed the supply of the potent drug in the party circles, the cheaper MDMA and LSD have become the dope in demand among the city's druggies. And it's not just youngsters from the elite circles of the city who are hooked to drugs anymore. The affordable MDMA and LSD have become the drugs of choice among the middle class too. Anurag Sharma, Commissioner of Police, says, "The city trend is now that youngsters are taking to MDMA and LSD. MDMA in the original state is white crystalline powder and is called Ecstasy when sold as pills. Because it's more affordable when compared to coke, it has caught the fancy of youngsters from all social strata. Earlier, only the city's upper class was into drugs, but now the growing trend is that even youngsters from middle class families have become habitual drug abusers."

These two drugs have become a hot choice among drug peddlers too. "Because of the high demand for both these drugs, the peddlers are also stocking up on them for trade," he adds. Plus, with the cops cracking down hard on the city's coke nexus, MDMA and LSD have become popular alternatives — they are not only cheaper, but also give druggies a strong high.

Longer, stronger high

The cost factor is what has the city's youngsters hooked to MDMA and LSD. The CP reveals, "While cocaine costs `4,500 per gram, a microdot LSD costs just around `1,500. This variant is much more potent than regular LSD and the trip lasts for 20 hours straight. Consumption of regular LSD leaves druggies in a trance-like state for three to five hours and each cube consists of 30 mg to 50 mg of the liquid. MDMA costs `3,000 per gram. It is either swallowed as a pill (Ecstasy) or used to spike drinks. Considering they are more affordable in comparison to cocaine, these two drugs are in demand now." A combination of MDMA and LSD is very lethal and can knock one out.

Homes, the new drug addas

The latest hotspots for rave parties in the city are not nightclubs anymore, but farmhouses and homes. Anurag Sharma says, "Since we are keeping a close watch on nightclubs, the drug scene has shifted to these farmhouses and private residences. In fact, strangely, statistics have shown that a lot of young couples in live-in relationships have taken to these drugs."

Throwing light on the city's drug scene, a DJ on condition of anonymity, tells us, "MDMA is popular among some of the city's P3 circles, including the real-estate and infrastructure companies' young heirs, whose parties are the toast of the town. The guy who supplies it to these folks is also a known and popular party regular. At Saturday's party, there were more than just the five who were arrested at the rave bash... the big fish fled the scene and have gone underground now."