The Diplomat Desk
RS Pura:TDD, Shiv Sena Hindustan J&K President Pt Rajesh Kesri today presided over a meeting at village Jangwal of RS Pura Block to extend support to Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan in border areas. Addressing the meeting, Kesri said that though J&K government has adopted a zero tolerance policy against social evils like smuggling of psychotropic substances, drugs etc. and ensured strict action against the producers and suppliers of drugs with the aim of bridging the network from the point of origin of the drugs to the point of destination but lots more needs to be done. He said that toll free drug prevention helpline number was in place, the main objective of which was to encourage the general public to share information about drug traffickers and to provide counseling to drug addicts and their parents regarding de-addiction. The identity of the informers was being kept secret, said Kesri.
The substance abuse is adversely affecting especially the youth across gender and majorly responsible for psycho-social-medical problems. He said that a concrete strategy needs to be adopted to curb the menace of substance abuse in the State through preventive education, awareness generation, identification, counseling, treatment and rehabilitation, development of human resource for capacity building and reducing stigmatization and discrimination. All stakeholders must work in unison and share responsibilities accordingly, he added.
Kesri stressed on a strong and effective strategy to curb the drug menace in the Jammu region. To reach out to those affected and also step-up prevention, this requires special attention in increasing community participation and public cooperation in reduction of demand for dependence-producing substances. These programmes include community-based peer-led intervention for early drug use prevention among adolescents and youth and outreach and drop in Centres.Kesri underscored to develop an increased sense of responsibility among parents and teachers to ensure primary prevention or early detection. School children who become addicted to drugs tend to lag in academics and even drop out of educational institutions. They must know where to get help from, he said.
The major work needs to be done at treatment and rehabilitation level to set up standard procedures and good practices. Also needed is a linkage of such Rehabilitation Centres with skill development. Those under treatment should be taught skills for early rehabilitation. This step is therapeutic as well as cost effective to check relapse, added Kesri.As a crime prevention measure, substance addicts need to be tracked to arrest them and send them to organizations for treatment and if they were found selling drugs, they would be sent to prison for treatment. For prevention and welfare it is the need of the hour to work closely with the community for support services as drug prevention cannot be achieved without the support of the community, said Kesri.
Kesri said that there was a need for a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the menace of drug abuse. The first step to deal with substance abuse is to cut off the supply chain. All law enforcement agencies, dealing with narcotics enforcement are hitting at drug traffickers to weaken supply lines, he added.He said that the survey shows that different substances were being used by the drug addicts. He also highlighted various measures being taken by the department for prevention of such substance abuse. Prominent among those present on the occasion include Balveer Kumar, Captain Ghara Ram, Captain Om Prakash, Suresh Kumar, Balwant Saini, Rajesh Kumar, Brahm Singh, Darshana Devi, Rajni Devi .TDD
