Congress chief of the Punjab unit Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday claimed 78% of the population in the state was addicted to drugs. “A few years back, Rahulji had disclosed that 70% of the population of our state is hooked to drugs. Now, a new survey has come stating that 78% of people are hooked to drugs,” he said, adding that those between the ages of 18 and 44 were the worst affected. However, he did not reveal the source of the survey, Hindustan Times reported.

Singh’s statements come at a time when film Udta Punjab, which is centred on the theme of substance abuse in India, has been embroiled in controversy. The Bombay High Court cleared it for release with one cut on Monday, after the censor board had recommended up to 89 cuts.

Speaking at the same event, where Congress staged a protest in Jalandhar against the alleged drug menace in the state, party vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday declared that the Congress would be able to rid the state of the problem in a month’s time if voted to power. He also took the opportunity to lash out at the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal government and said the state supported the flourishing drug trade in the state because it benefited from it.