With the abuse of alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs and smacks assuming alarming proportions in Dehradun and some other parts of the state, police seem to be stumbling, focusing here and there, sans any roadmap to take on it methodically.The menace of drug abuse keeps spreading its tentacles in Dehradun, in particular, as more and more people are falling prey to it.
"Things are grim as people as young as 17 and as old as 70 are being enmeshed in it,” said Ravi Bhatia, founder of Nijaat Alcohol And Drug Rehabilitation Center. Bhatia also informed that most of those coming to them are on the threshold of 30s. “The easy availability of these substances is responsible for the spiraling rise in the number of addicts. It is sad that school students are proving to be the most vulnerable section as far as this deadly addiction is concerned,” Bhatia said.
The observers said that with universities and colleges mushrooming across the state, the situation is worsening further. Targeting the students, the dealers are reaching them with impunity.In a recent interview, Dehradun SSP, Kewal Khurana had said that a large number of students is coming here from outside, turning things grimmer. “True, such cases are rising despite our efforts to bust the rackets. A major chunk of the contrabands is sneaking its way here from Delhi, Uttarkashi and Himachal Pradesh,” he said.
The positive outcome of Nayi Zindagi, a police initiative meant to free the drug addicts from the dreaded habit of consuming substances and to rehabilitate them is not yet much discernible.
Talking about Nayi Zindagi, Bhatia said that it is a good initiative on the part of police. But it is a long-drawn process, he said. “Countries like America have failed to eliminate it. Demand spawns supply. Palliatives alone would not work. We need to work harder and doggedly with infinite patience," he added.