Amarinder writes to Modi on drug menace

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narender Modi asking the latter to form a national drugs policy to check the spiralling drug menace in the state and across the country.

In the letter, Amarinder urged Modi to advise the ministries of home, social justice and empowerment and others to address the important issue of drugs with more seriousness than it has received so far.

He sought Modi's intervention for the formulation of a national policy on all three components: Enforcement, de-addiction and prevention of drug abuse in the country, so as to enable all states to follow a more or less similar approach and strategy to curb the drug menace, which has substantially hampered the health of the people particularly the youth.

Amarinder also expressed his state's willingness to associate with the officers concerned of the Union government to not only evolve the policy but also to put in place an effective mechanism for its implementation in the larger interest of the nation.

Highlighting the fact that Punjab shares a 553-km border with Pakistan and has a strategic significance for the safety and security of the country, Amarinder raised the security concerns emerging out of narco-terrorism.

He impressed upon Modi to extend liberal financial support to increase and strengthen the Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics in Punjab that are currently being run on meagre state resources.

He pointed out that the OOAT clinics have been appreciated by AIIMS, New Delhi, as a unique initiative to treat drug addicts.