'Include a chapter on drug abuse in syllabus'

DG&IGP Om Prakash said that a proposal would be submitted to CBSE to incorporate a chapter on drugs in school syllabus to sensitise children about the ill-effects of substance abuse.

He was speaking at a meeting chaired by Additional Chief Secretary S K Patnaik on containing drug menace in the City on Monday. Members of NGOs, students organisations and educational institutions participated in the meeting.

Prakash said that before the enforcement, there is a need to create awareness on the ill effects of drug abuse.

Stating that Coastal districts were vulnerable to the substance abuse as there was easy access through sea and land route, he said that the drug menace was a serious problem for our country and youth were falling easy prey to it creating serious challenge to authorities concerned. A coordinated approach is need to root out the drug abuse from the society, he added.

“We have written to Narcotics Control Bureau on increasing the number of narcotics drug detection kits, so that it can be supplied to all the police stations and coastal security police. At the same time, a few kind of drugs cannot be detected easily, hence, it has been asked to improve the kits. The district-level and regional-level co-ordination meeting on the drug menace will be held once in three months,” the DGP said.

The existing mechanism will be strengthened to check the drug menace. He said that trained dogs will be used to detect the existence of drug supply at railway stations and beaches.

Earlier, Prajna Counselling Centre Director Hilda Rayappan said that de-addiction centres run by the Centre with the help of government do not have infrastructure to treat the addicts of the substance abuse.

“We have been treating people addicted to liquor and ganja. However, youth are getting addicted to other substances and we do not have infrastructure to treat them inspite of having trained staff members,” she said.

“The increase in the drug abuse among youth is a matter of concern in the recent years. The problem has to be redressed by creating awareness. The victims of  Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases include an entire range of social strata, right from the rich and to the educated poor who are found to be involved and affected by the drug menace,” said a representatives from Link De Addiction Centre. She said along with ganja, many use naturally available mushroom as drug by drying it.

Yathish Baikampady of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project said that consumption of gutka has also increased. Even Chinese synthetic drugs have entered the market, which can not be detected with the normal tests. There is a need to sensitise children in schools and colleges.

The representative from SKDRDP and Campus Front of India said that awareness is being created in schools and colleges on the ill-effects of consumption of drugs.

Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim said that DK police and city police were implementing the COTPA Act. The licences of 40 medical shops have been suspended in the last one-and-half-years in Dakshina Kannada. There are plans to form ward and mohalla committees in association with NGOs and public to take up capacity building and community-based intervention to counter the ill-effects and dangers of the drug abuse.