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30 Minutes: The dark side of Goa's sunny image
Published on Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 22:05, Updated on Sun, Apr 13, 2008 at 19:36 in Nation section
Tags: 30 Minutes, Scarlette Keeling , Panaji
THE SCARLETT SYNDROME: Anjuna's St Anthony's hospital has had 65 cases of drug abuse this year so far.
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Panaji: Almost everyone in Goa's coastal belt benefits from the tourism economy. For a long time, it didn't matter how the money rolled in.
Editor Goan Observer, Rajan Narayan says, "The image of Goa in the international media and even nationally has been that of an ultimate party place. Goa is the ultimate Sodem and Gomrah where everything goes."
However, after Scarlette Keeling's tragic death, many want Goa's image of a free-spirited beach paradise detoxified.
Calangute United Front's Anthony D'Souza says, "In the long run, they don't realise that if they have money, the youth are going to stray. They start taking drugs. Girls first take jobs at beauty parlours, then they say they are masseusse's and then they get into sex trade."
A recovering drug addict tells CNN-IBN that all over from Calingute to Baga, sex trade is rampant. He adds that the people who run the business give money to the police so that the police do not arrest them.
St.Anthony's Hospital at Anjuna is familiar with drug overdose cases.
Dr Jawaharlal Hendriques who works at the hospital says, "Last year, we had 37 cases of drug abuse. This year we have had 65 cases so far. So it shows it has increased."
At St.Anthony's CNN-IBN spoke to an inmate struggling with drug addiction.
"My brain loves this substance and will definitely buy it no matter what, if I have money in my pocket. It is a way of behaving that I cannot help," says the addict.
A veteran on the drug circuit, this addict confirmed that every drug was freely available around Anjuna.
"I think unfortunately, there is a lot of opium consumption as well as heroin and people also take ecstasy pills, cocaine, LSD. These last three are the ones that I have heard the most about," she says.
CNN-IBN had earlier carried out a special investigation which showed how easily drugs were available on the coast of North Goa. Goans CNN-IBN spoke to confirmed this story.
"The worst thing is that even if we bring this to the notice of the police, they will not catch the supplier because they get money from the supplier. And if the supplier is arrested, then the income for the police is also stopped," says Calangute United Front's Anthony D'Souza.
Adds Editor Sonaparant, Sandesh Prabhudesai, "Drugs are sold openly, but we don't find them because if we Indians go there, the suppliers will never approach us. But the minute they see a foreigner, they come out and start selling the drugs openly."
Goa is not a lawless state over run by drug mafia. Delhi and Mumbai are bigger drug markets. But on a section of Goa's coast drugs and sex tourism is on the rise. Scarlette Keeling was simply the symptom of a problem that could fly out of control.
Has the Scarlette Keeling case changed Goa? Are we any nearer the truth? Do we know any more about the so-called drug mafia in the state? Have the politicians and the police shown any resolve to solve this problem? Are drugs likely to disappear from Goa? At this point, we fear the answer is 'No' to all of these questions.
(With inputs from Pramod Acharya in Goa)
Also Read
30 Minutes Part I: Drug den Goa, a dose of reality
30 Minutes Part II: Some hard questions for Scarlette's mother
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