Bihar’s Drug Crisis: Why Prohibition Alone Cannot Solve the Problem
Bihar’s decade-long prohibition experiment is confronting a troubling challenge: while the state has invested considerable resources in enforcing its liquor ban, a growing narcotics problem is placing additional pressure on law enforcement, healthcare services and vulnerable families. Rising drug-related cases, increased seizures and mounting demand for rehabilitation suggest that criminal enforcement alone cannot address the complex causes of substance dependence. The crisis raises a fundamental question for the government led by Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary: can Bihar protect its young people without strengthening prevention, treatment and rehabilitation alongside policing?
Rising numbers, widening concerns
Bihar introduced prohibition in April 2016, presenting it as a measure to reduce alcohol-related harm and improve social welfare. Yet recent data indicate that the state faces a serious challenge from narcotics and psychotropic substances.
According to Bihar Police Headquarters data reported in October 2026, police registered 1,905 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act between January and May 2026 alone. This exceeded the 1,822 cases recorded during the whole of 2022. The corresponding figure for 2019 was 697.
Seizures of narcotic tablets have also increased sharply. Police recovered approximately 9.29 lakh tablets during the first five months of 2026, compared with 29,762 in the whole of 2022. These figures indicate the scale of enforcement activity, although seizures and registered cases cannot independently establish the total prevalence of drug consumption.
The figures nevertheless demand urgent attention. Behind every case may be an individual struggling with dependence, a family facing financial distress or a young person whose education and employment prospects are deteriorating.
Prohibition and the limits of enforcement
The growing narcotics problem does not, by itself, establish that prohibition caused increased drug consumption. However, it exposes the limitations of treating substance abuse primarily as a policing challenge.
Liquor prohibition has required extensive enforcement, arrests and seizures. Meanwhile, illegal markets can adapt, and traffickers can shift towards substances that are easier to conceal and distribute. Police investigations have identified multiple supply routes and increasingly varied forms of narcotics, including pharmaceutical preparations.
The government has established specialised narcotics enforcement mechanisms, including a dedicated cell within the Special Task Force and the Prohibition and State Narcotics Control Bureau. These measures are important, particularly against organised trafficking networks.
But enforcement must distinguish between those who profit from the illegal drug trade and people experiencing addiction. Traffickers require investigation and prosecution. People dependent on substances often require medical care, psychological support and sustained rehabilitation.
Conflating these two categories risks discouraging people from seeking help and pushing vulnerable families further into isolation.
Young people are particularly vulnerable
The potential consequences for children and adolescents are especially serious. A national survey cited by a Parliamentary Standing Committee estimated that Bihar had approximately 99,000 cannabis users, 40,000 opioid users, 29,000 inhalant users and 8,000 sedative users among those aged 10–17.
These are estimates cited in a 2023 report, not a current headcount, but they underline the importance of early intervention.
Peer pressure, family distress, unemployment, educational difficulties and limited awareness can contribute to vulnerability. Drug dependence can, in turn, disrupt schooling, damage relationships and undermine the ability to secure employment.
The response cannot begin only after a young person is arrested or develops severe dependence. Schools, colleges, primary healthcare centres and community organisations need accessible awareness programmes, confidential counselling and clear referral pathways to professional treatment.
Families also need support to recognise warning signs without resorting to humiliation, violence or social exclusion.
Rehabilitation remains a critical weakness
One of the most concerning indicators is the pressure on treatment services. According to figures reported from the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, beneficiaries of centrally supported de-addiction centres in Bihar increased from 1,487 in 2022–23 to 29,429 in 2024–25.
Yet these facilities have operated in fewer than one-third of the state’s districts. The rise in beneficiaries indicates increased service utilisation, although it does not by itself establish the exact scale of addiction across Bihar.
Treatment must extend beyond short residential stays. Effective recovery may require medically supervised withdrawal, psychiatric care, counselling, family involvement, vocational support and continued follow-up. Without such continuity, individuals may return to the same environments and pressures that contributed to their dependence.
The government should expand district-level access to treatment, strengthen public hospitals and support credible community-based rehabilitation services. Confidentiality and affordability must remain central to this effort.
A broader strategy is urgently needed
Bihar needs a coordinated response built around four priorities: disrupting trafficking networks, preventing early drug use, making treatment accessible and supporting long-term recovery.
The state should publish regular district-wise data on drug cases, seizures, treatment access and rehabilitation outcomes. Independent monitoring would help distinguish genuine progress from activity measured merely through arrests and confiscations.
Employment opportunities, recreational facilities, school retention and community engagement should also form part of prevention efforts. These measures cannot eliminate addiction on their own, but they can address vulnerabilities that policing cannot resolve.
The verdict: Public health must accompany policing
Bihar’s prohibition policy remains politically significant, but its success cannot be assessed solely through the volume of liquor seized or the number of arrests made. The state must also confront the changing narcotics landscape and ensure that people struggling with addiction can obtain effective care.
For Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary’s government, the challenge is to move beyond an enforcement-dominated response towards a strategy that combines accountability with compassion.
Prohibition may restrict the legal availability of alcohol, but it cannot, by itself, eliminate addiction or dismantle every illicit market. Bihar needs determined action against traffickers, accessible treatment for those affected and sustained investment in prevention. The real measure of success will be fewer lives damaged by drugs—not simply more arrests.
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