Only 1% of Punjab's population is addicted to drugs, but Opposition parties are projecting the substance abuse problem as a much more grave issue than it actually is, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani said on Sunday, The Indian Express reported.

"An AIIMS [All India Institute of Medical Sciences] study has proved that it was false propaganda of the Congress and its vice president Rahul Gandhi to say that 70% of the state's youths are drug addicts. On the basis of a survey conducted in 10 districts, AIIMS found that there are only 1.8% addicts. If it conducts the survey in all 22 districts, the percentage will go down to one. Only 1% of the people are addicts,” Jayani said while speaking at an event in Amritsar on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

To drive home his point, the minister added that the Punjab government had made provisions for 2,200 beds at rehabilitation facilities across the state, but there are only 250 patients. "If the problem is that serious, as claimed by Opposition parties, then all the beds should be occupied," he said, adding that people used to take drugs like opium and poppy husk publicly in the state earlier, but the practice is a taboo now.