Now such news has come out from the jails of Punjab, which is already infamous in the case of drugs, which you will be stunned to hear. Due to shortage of drugs, the prisoners here have made lizard’s tail their new ‘addiction’. Yes, catch the lizard, cut the tail, dry it, make powder and mix it in tobacco or beedi and puff. That’s it, you get instant intoxication!
The jail administration became nervous as soon as it got wind of this strange trend. Now every lizard has been removed from the prison walls, so that the prisoners do not become victims of this ‘biological drug’. This news is creating a stir on social media. It has been claimed in many posts that prisoners in the jails of Punjab are taking drugs in this manner. But is this just a rumour? No, medical and criminology case studies prove it.
This is how intoxication happens
Despite strict measures to prevent drug smuggling in prisons, prisoners sometimes find alternative ways to consume drugs. 42% of the prisoners in Punjab jails are drug addicts. This figure has come from a government survey of 2023. When things like hashish, heroin or spirits are not available, the prisoners target the lizards found around the jail (especially the Indian Spiny-tailed Lizard or Wall Lizard). The most famous case is that of a 25-year-old prisoner, who was admitted to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, Punjab in 2014. This prisoner was addicted to cannabis for 15 years. When drugs were not found in the jail, his fellow prisoners taught him the lizard trick. He would catch the lizard, burn it, put its ashes in a beedi and light it. The prisoner claimed that it gives as much pleasure as cannabis, and one gets intoxicated instantly.
What does medical science say?
Medical reports found that it does not contain any specific drug compound but it produces psychoactive effects, i.e. increased confidence, mild numbness or hallucinations. Another case came to light in 2013. An alcohol and cannabinoid addicted prisoner at Rohtak’s PGIMS dried a lizard’s tail, made powder from it and consumed it after mixing it with medicine. After this he remained intoxicated for 10-12 hours. Doctors described it as an ‘unconventional psychoactive substance’.
back in fashion
Punjab is infamous by the name of ‘Udta Punjab’. Here, drug tests of more than 8,000 prisoners were conducted in 2023, in which 42% were found positive. 900 out of 1900 prisoners were found addicts in Amritsar jail and 647 out of 1673 prisoners in Bathinda. Due to shortage of drugs, prisoners started using insects, snake venom or even scorpion stings. Lizards are easily found on the walls of India. In such a situation, the prisoners separated their tails and started intoxicating with it. So that when the tail grows again, they can get intoxicated again.
