Concerned over the increasing cases of drug abuse in the State capital, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Saurabh Thapliyal met District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam and raised the issue in front of him.
He said Dehradun which is known as an education hub was losing its significance and was transforming into a centre for such illegal activities as the number of drug peddlers had also increased considerably in last few years. This was also one of the reasons for youths falling to substance abuse.
Despite repeated communications being made to the authorities, no action had been taken against the existing hookah bars in the town. Generally school and college students were caught when police raided such hookah bars, he said.
Substance abuse has also become a major reason for the increasing number of accidents in the town, he said citing the recent Premnagar road accident in which a pedestrian died after being run over by drunk youth in a car.
Submitting a memorandum to the DM, the BJYM members said that police should start their routine checks in different wards and penalise the drug peddlers and substance abusers.