The district police have formed a special squad to check illegal selling of the habit forming drugs in Sambalpur.
Sambalpur SP Akhileswar Singh informed about the special squad. “The squad will work under my direct supervision,” said Singh, adding that the squad would work to nab the big players involved in the illegal selling of those drugs.
The residents of the city have welcomed the move and are hopeful of its positive effect.
“The illegal selling has encouraged the abuse of the habit forming drug in the city. The consumption of these drugs has a very negative effect on the youths. Because of the addiction, several criminal activities are taking place,” said a local resident.
“large numbers of youths are now found to be consuming these drugs. They start consuming these drugs as a pastime pleasure and later become habituated with them. On several cases, they also start taking these drugs in depression and later fall prey to it,” said psychiatrist Mihir Ranjan Naik. Moreover, Naik said, “Because of the addiction, several times, youths are also seen committing crimes.”
“Abuse of cough syrups, anti-depressants and sedative is widely prevalent in Sambalpur. These cough syrups are cheap and addictive. And because of the easy availability of such type of drugs, mostly the youths are being attracted towards it. Illegal selling of such kinds of drugs is a dangerous thing for the society,” said another local resident.
Earlier, police have arrested several persons, who were found to be selling these drugs illegally. However, these arrests have failed to curb wide and easy availability of these drugs in the city. But now I am hopeful that the special squad will be able to curb the illegal selling of these drugs in the city, he added.
“The initiative of the police is praiseworthy. However, the drug control department should also take initiative to check the illegal selling of those drugs. Many medicine shops are selling these drugs without prescription. The stock of the medicine shop should be checked and steps should be taken to ensure the selling of these kinds of drugs with prescription only,” said a senior citizen of the city.
Talking on the selling of those habit forming drugs in some medicine stores, the SP said, “If the drug control department requires our assistance in controlling such kinds of incidents, we will provide all the support.”
The administration is geared up to ensure this menace is curbed from society.