Goa, June 6 -- AUGUSTO RODRIGUES

Forty-nine lives lost in just 90 days. That is the grim toll of narcotics-related deaths re corded in Goa between Jan uary 1 and March 31, 2026, according to information furnished by the Depart ment of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at Goa Medi cal College in response to an RTI application filed by this correspondent. The figures expose a deadly undercur rent beneath the State's tourism-driven economy and raise fresh concerns about the increasingly toxic mix of narcotics, prescrip tion drugs and alcohol cir culating through Goa. The deaths, spread across multiple police jurisdic tions between January 1 and March 31, have alarmed medical professionals, an ti-narcotics investigators and local residents. W...