'Long chill' in jail: Himachal Pradesh cops warning to drug users

Those who intend to get high on drugs, will be made to “chill” in jail, is the cheeky message of the Himachal Pradesh Police, which is leveraging social media to caution youths against the menace of drugs.

“Winters have set in Himachal Pradesh. Jails in Himachal are extremely cold now, thinking of getting high on drugs, police welcome you for a long term chill in our prisons,” is the message of Himachal police to drug users.

With 99k followers on it Facebook account, the hill state police is using social media including Twitter and Instagram to spread awareness against drug use.

Police across districts are also sharing information regarding arrests and seizure in NDPS cases on their Facebook accounts to strike fear among the drug peddlers and addicts.

The idea is to come up with “short and crisp messages” to sensitise people on drug abuse, a senior police officer said.

Also Read | Contraband drugs worth more than Rs 3 crore seized in Assam

"Kindly enjoy snow and winters in Himachal. Don't do drugs or else, you may end up spending a very long time behind bars," said DGP HImachal Sanjay Kundu.

Another such post involved a photograph that showed the word “drugs” in handcuffs, captioned with a message “says yes to life, no to drugs.”

The social media approach has received good responses, not only on drugs but also on road safety, cyber crime, and other important issues, highly placed officers in the police department said.

According to the state police, a total of 1,732 persons were arrested in 1,195 NDPS cases in 2022 till October end.

The police have so far seized 274 kgs charas, 31 kgs opium, 306 kgs poppy husk, 164 kgs ganja, smack and cocaine, 7.9 kgs of heroin (chitta) and 30,152 capsules and tablets.

They have also destroyed 70,602 poppy plants and 47,737 cannabis plants.

Stepping up its campaign against drug peddlers, narcotic sniffer dogs have also been pressed into service to check smuggling of drugs at district barriers.

The dogs trained by the CID work under the supervision of their handlers and can smell concealed narcotics.

Sniffer dogs can recognise at least 13 contraband substances, including cocaine, cannabis and opioids, officials said.