64% youths in Gurdaspur district doing drugs

GURDASPUR: Easy availability of proscribed synthetic drugs and other intoxicants at chemist shops and RMP clinics in the rural belt has increased manifold over the years and about 64% youths have been found hooked to one or the other form of intoxicant in Gurdaspur district.
Gurdaspur Red Cross Drug De-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre, which has come out with the report says, "Unemployment, easy availability of drugs and police nexus with drug smugglers and sellers were some of the factors responsible for an increase in the number of drug addicts."
"Sale of drugs is rampant in the rural areas and drugs are being openly sold in certain colonies of Batala, Gurdaspur and Pathankot, where many deaths are reported every months due to drug abuse," says the report.
Director of the Drug De-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre, Romesh Mahajan, said the report was based on the interview of 12,570 drug addicts admitted in the centre for de-addiction, for the last 17 years. "Majority of the addicts took synthetic drugs, while some were addicted to poppy husk and as many as 657 were hooked to smack and heroin. Most of the drug addicts fell in the age group of 25-30 years. However, what was alarming was the fact that the number of adolescents falling prey to drug abuse was increasing," he said.
Mahajan said, "The centre has been on the forefront to help police in locating joints where drugs were being openly sold. Some drug pushers and smugglers had even been arrested, but the big fish, somehow, manages to evade the police net."
The report says that besides chemists shops and RMP clinics, certain dhabas, hotels, restaurants and district taverns were also engaged in the sale of drugs. The drug-sellers mostly carry out their business around schools and colleges in these major cities, the report stated.
He said the Red Cross centre had sent its report to the head office at Chandigarh for urgent attention. He urged the parents and NGOs for their active participation in dealing with the issue of drug-addiction by holding awareness meets and seminars in schools and colleges.
"The centre has also recommended the government not to allow the sale of tobacco, cigarettes and liquor near educational institutions," Mahajan said.