Nine schoolboys in Kerala's Kottayam district have been admitted to a state-run de-addiction centre after falling prey to cannabis-laced candies. The teenagers, aged between 14 and 16, were tracked down by Excise officials over a painstaking three-month investigation that exposed a thriving drug network targeting youngsters.

The probe began three months ago when Excise officials intercepted an Uttar Pradesh native, Rishikesh Singh, carrying 194gm of highly suspicious confectionery. Suspecting foul play, the department sent the sweets to a forensic science laboratory, where tests confirmed the presence of cannabis. Although Singh initially managed to slip under the radar, investigators tracked his mobile phone logs. This revealed that the majority of his frequent callers were local schoolchildren, leading officials straight to the vulnerable teenagers.

The packets, containing 40 individual candies weighing five gm each, were reportedly sold to the students for ₹200. The bittersweet treats contain highly potent extracts of cannabis. Excise officials warned that regular consumption of these substances aggressively targets the central nervous system, leading to permanent neurological damage and critical mental health complications.
When questioned by the authorities, one 15-year-old student admitted he bought the candies because they triggered fits of uncontrollable laughter. However, the initial euphoria quickly faded for others, with several students slipping into severe clinical depression as a direct result of chemical dependency. To date, Kottayam Excise has seized over 974 gm of these spiked candies from student networks across the district, though they are keeping the precise supply routes confidential as investigations continue.

In a related incident, a college field trip from Kottayam had to be abruptly cancelled after a student collapsed during the journey. College authorities quickly launched an internal enquiry, which revealed that several students had ingested these exact cannabis-infused sweets. After notifying the Excise department, who immediately confiscated the contraband, the college management ordered the tour bus to return. The students later confessed that they had purchased the sweets from a migrant worker.