Many who gathered at the workshop on prevention of drug abuse held at Police lines on Friday spoke of how the habit is ruining lives of the youth who have fallen prey to it. Addressing the workshop attended among others by the principals and teachers of various schools and colleges aside from students and representatives from various social organisations, the State Director General of police (DGP) Anil K Raturi said that such workshop cannot do much regarding the grim nature of the matter. “The humble initiative taken by police would be successful in the real sense if all sections of the people come forward to sensitise the addicts about the peril they are bringing upon their life and career and help them rid of it once and for all,” he said. He vowed that police would deal with such cases appropriately. “We would set up anti- drug cell in each district of the State,” the State police chief added.
State ADGP (law and order) Ashok Kumar said that the anti- drug cell would be set up at each of the police posts and the police stations. Works performed by the cell officials would be reviewed once a month, he said, adding that COPTA Act 2003 would be strictly implemented across the State.
Garhwal Range DIG Pushpak Jyoti regretted the degeneration of Dehradun, once known as a peaceful place, over the years. “The city being an education hub sees students thronging here for education from across the country. But over the past few years, it has got attached with the stigma of being a haven for the drug addicts. We must fight out this menace collectively. The near ones and the neighbours of the addicts must play the role the society expects them to do. These hapless youth need treatment which would help them get out of the rut,” he said.
He asked the people to inform police on toll free number 100 if anybody is found consuming drugs. “Besides, anti- drugs centre must be established at the schools and the colleges and those already under its grip must be provided with counselling. We are planning to install CCTV cameras in the campuses of the schools,” he said.
Jyoti warned chemists against selling medicines to the children sans the mandatory medical prescription made by the doctors.
Citing the recent drive, he said that 26 shop-owners had been slapped with penalties by the police under COPTA Act 2003. Such drives would be launched in other areas within the Range, he added.
Nitish Kambooj, a specialist on the subject, dwelt on the rising cases of mouth cancer being caused by consumption of tobacco and drugs. Another expert, Dr Satish Aggarwal talked about how a person can be freed from addiction through regular practice of yoga.