What should be done to ensure a drug-free society?

Govt, society must act together

Despite the sustained campaign against drugs and illicit trade, the menace of drug addiction is plaguing our society. So, the foremost duty of parents is to provide their adolescents a loving, stable and secure home environment. Teachers and society should apprise the gullible youngsters of the deleterious effects of drug abuse. The government in tandem with society should make efforts to annihilate the monster of drugs to purge our society of drug addiction. A strong religious base along with strong family ties and high morals can help wrench out this vicious evil to ensure a drug-free society. The government should use all its might to bring the drug trade to a grinding halt. Nefarious elements dealing in drugs should be put behind bars without any summary trial. The law should be made more stringent and enforced more rigorously. National drug prevention network, community leaders and strong community coalitions are the key to changing public attitudes, perceptions and reducing the availability of illicit drugs. People should be made aware that drug use is not normal and is in no way a part of their life. More funds should be earmarked for the prevention of drug abuse. People ought to shun toxic relationships. People with substance use disorders should be identified and referred for assistance. Addicts and their families should be encouraged to ask for help. Rehabilitation centres should be watched closely and their functioning should be scrutinized periodically. Drug addiction treatment should include behavioural therapy. Addicts should be prevented from relapsing and helped on priority if relapsing occurs. People should stand together to save youth and society from drugs. Last but not the least, right type of education in schools, colleges and universities can play a significant role in ensuring a drug-free society.

Tarsem S Bumrah

Build more drug rehab centres

It’s a complete failure of the ruling government as the culprits involved in drugs and illicit trade are protected by politicians, drug authorities and cops. The menace would continue unless and until the government determines to eradicate the same from our society. Today the menace of synthetic drugs is prevailing as well which are being manufactured by pharma companies and are easily available with chemists and are being sold without any prescriptions. We need to build and increase the present capacities of drug rehab centres and get our youth out of this quagmire. Needless to say that drugs like termites eat the wealth, health and happiness of the addicted home and their family members. The day the government decides to eradicate the drug trade, it would not take more than 15 days to take everything in control.

Manish Aggarwal

Break smuggler-politician-cop nexus

Drugs, not addicts, should be shunned from Punjab because addiction is a disease. One survey of drug addiction conducted by the society for promotion of youth and masses in the state revealed that initially, they start taking drugs for the sake of fun. To ensure a drug-free society, enforcement, treatment and prevention programme for drug abuse must be initiated. Earlier, the state government had started the Buddy programmes. The nexus between smugglers, politicians and policemen must be broken to ensure a drug-free society.

Ankur Gupta

Hold anti-drug drives, street plays

The drug menace is eating into our social fabric and the economy like a termite and destroying the physical and mental health of our youth who are vulnerable to it. It is a multidimensional problem and needs a similar combative strategy to eradicate it. All children in schools must be made aware of the disastrous effects of the drugs. Involving youth, social organisations and community leaders in spreading awareness by holding seminars and anti-drug campaigns and street plays can help a lot. The chain of demand and supply of drugs has to be broken to get optimum results. Reducing the supply of drugs by cracking the mafias and their nexus with the politicians and law protectors must be given priority. Stringent legal measures and their enforcement by committed and dedicated enforcement agencies are required to be taken. It is a global menace and can be controlled by the co-operation of all the governments by actively curbing drug trafficking on the borders. The people already addicted to drugs should be counselled and their treatment must be made affordable and accessible. Combined efforts of all the stakeholders can ensure a drug-free society.

ANIL KHANNA

Give strict punishment to culprits

To ensure a drug-free society, the government must raise awareness among the masses of the bane of drug abuse. Secondly, swift action needs to be taken by the police against drug mafia operators operating in the state. Last but not the least, laws should be made stricter to punish sellers of drugs as well as consumers of drugs.

SANJAY CHAWLA

Promoting sports the need of the hour

If the menace of drugs and illicit trade is still far from being over what does it suggest? Either the long campaign against these is just superficial and a mere eyewash or is facing resistance from within the system itself that is supposed to put an end to it. No mafia, of drugs and illicit trade being no exception, can operate without being hand in glove with the law-enforcing agencies and political clout. Even a confirmed optimist would not see hope in the near future given the present scenario. Those already addicted must be treated in well-equipped and well-staffed de-addiction centres. The young people, who are still away from the menace, must be given at least a semblance of hope for their secure and good future. For this, quality institutions providing education and promoting sports and professional skills are required. But, this cannot be done overnight. The first relief that the parents in Punjab get from the ongoing exodus of youth for foreign shores is that their child will be safe from drugs. The financial costs involved, even if beyond their means, are managed. Till some really effective measures are taken to eradicate the menace of drugs and illicit trade, it becomes the duty of parents, social activists and committed NGOs to keep on sensitizing the youth to the horrible consequences of taking drugs and indulging in illegal activities while dwelling upon how life promises happiness and prosperity following the path of hard work and dedication.

HL Sharma

Politicians must stop patronising it

Almost all politicians in our country prefer business, which generates quick and easy money. They started with ration shop to quota-permit business according to their status. Then they moved to cinema halls, LPG agency, petrol pumps and now switched over to transport, property dealing, sand mining, drug trafficking and illicit liquor. So, the involvement of high-profile politicians in this trade is answer to your question why in spite of best efforts to stop it, this illicit trade is going on. All such exercises to curtail this trade are futile due to involvement of politicians. In the past, serious allegations against a senior leader of the Congress were levelled by an ex-DGP of Punjab, but no enquiry was held. A similar allegation was leveled against a minister during the BJP-Akali Dal regime, but again nothing concrete came out of it. So, this illicit trade will continue till politicians cease to patronize it.

Naresh Johar

State govt needs to pull up its socks

Punjab has become infamous because of drug and its illicit trade. The sustainable campaign against drugs has been going on since long but there has been no way out. The Punjab Government in August 2018 has constituted a Special Group on Drugs which submitted its report Comprehensive Action against Drug Abuse (CADA) but because of the lack of political will, the report is being implemented half-heartedly.

TS Bhatti

Keep an account of your child’s company

All of us might have come across cases of drug overdose and the consequent deterioration of mental and physical health either through news or some other source. Some of us also might have interacted with people suffering from addiction of the same. First of all, to address the issue, the government and the required authorities should keep a strict check under the trade of such products so that it does not reach the public through illegal means. The youths should make a conscious choice of people they are coming in contact with. Secondly, parents should keep a strict vigil on their child’s activities. Third, drugs rehabilitation centres should be setup in every city and efforts should be made in order to bring the victim of the drug abuse to the concerned authorities. Lastly, the victim needs to be pushed in positive directions by his/her peers and family.

Manvi Malhotra

Be a responsible citizen

The biggest menace in today’s society is drugs and illicit trade, which is quite detrimental. Our future is based upon the progress and education of our youngsters— the future citizens of the world — but they are completely under control of drugs and it has become their routine to indulge in such activities. There are also many Bollywood films spreading awareness on drugs in movies such as Udta Punjab, Blackia, DSP Dev and many more. It is the duty of the government to implement strict rules. Moreover, citizens must also participate in it by informing it to government’s authorities if anything like that happens in or around them. Concluding, the illegal traders could only be controlled by strict actions and the cooperation of citizens.

Izleen Chaudhary

Easy availability to blame

The rampant drug abuse throughout India and the continuous efforts being made at different levels to uproot the same are no mystery to the masses. Yet, the crisis persists. One doesn’t need a detective to discover the roots of the menace attributed to various Indian traditions, which are often cited as a reason for its continuation. While India also has a history of drug abuse for pharmaceutical reasons, this has lately turned into ‘abuse’ due to various factors including stress. Besides heroin and cannabis products such as charas and bhang, the proclivity for marijuana and alcohol is also on the rise among the youth. Being a border state, Punjab is the worst affected with this menace, which seemed to have abated during the lockdown, only to rise again thereafter. Drugs can damage the brain at different levels. Au contraire, mind control can help curb drug abuse. While therapies are available to treat those battling addictions, holding campaigns to teach individuals ways and means of controlling their drug-cravings through mind control exercises can go a long way in defeating this evil.

Shaheen P Parshad

Need to break the supply chain

The government has been trying hard since years for a drug-free nation. Drug smuggling has been on a rise and millions of rupees worth of illicit drugs are being recovered as evidence. The youth mortality rate has come down but drug trafficking has not been completely stopped. Who can forget the August 2020 incident in Punjab in which more than 100 people died due to poisoned liquor. The state government should take measures such as giving rewards like keeping a check upon drug peddlers and breaking the supply chain. The assets of drug smugglers should be confiscated. Places where drugs are sold and used more should be declared as hotspots and more attention and surveillance must be paid. The government should create awareness among the youth. The youth should be made to understand that drugs deteriorate health, reduce quality of life, and disturb social networks and personal relationships. Drugs not only impacts a person but whole family is affected badly economically and emotionally too. Teachers should also be involved in the campaign against drugs as students of schools and colleges will listen and obey them. Local government officials including mayors, MCs and sarpanches should be involved in the campaign as they are in contact with. Almost all people in their areas can form a huge network in breaking the chain. Making nation drug-free isn’t the sole responsibility of the government but responsibility of every individual because youth are the future of a nation. So let’s all get rid of drugs from the society. Only then Punjab will be drug free.

Sucha Sagar

Check cross-border movement of drugs

Every day we see in newspapers that large amount of drugs are being nabbed by the authorities. But these still find some way to enter the state which point towards some glaring loopholes in the whole system. Drones are the future of surveillance and these should be deployed at the border belt to check the cross-border movement of drugs. It is so sad that people, mainly youngsters, are consuming drugs, one of the main reasons for their unemployment. Punjab is an agricultural state which is a great boon for the nation as it feeds majority of the people. Drug-addicts must be counseled and motivated to look at life in a positive way.

JATINDERPAL SINGH BATTH

Achieve de-addiction on a larger scale

There is a need to adopt a multi-faceted approach to fight drug abuse, rehabilitate addicts and motivate youngsters to stay away from drugs. The other step that the local administration should take is to spread an anti-drug awareness as a preventive measure. Achieving drug de-addiction on a larger scale in Amritsar is possible if parents and civic bodies work in tandem.

Akash Kumar

QUESTION

Unscheduled power cuts amid an intense heat wave across the state have left residents fuming and fretting. The rising demand for power has exposed chinks in infrastructure and preparedness in tackling with such a situation. What steps should be taken to ensure that residents don't reel under long power cuts in the state?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (July 15).