No synthetic drug addiction case in Oct in Barnala

Tribune News Service

Barnala, October 14

The Drug Abuse and Prevention Officer (DAPO) drive has started showing positive results in Barnala as not even one synthetic drug addict has approached the authorities in October for treatment.

The police and civil administration have said they have broken the supply chain of synthetic drugs in the district.

While disclosing information during a review meeting of civil and police administration officials, Barnala Deputy Commissioner Dharam Pal Gupta said only 147 patients got registered at the Out-Patient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) Clinics this month till October 11 in Barnala against 602 in September and 1,712 in August.

“But the analysis of patients showed that none of them were addicted to synthetic drugs. They are addicted to poppy husk, opium and liquor. With our efforts, we have broken the supply chain of synthetic drugs in Barnala and now we are taking action against smugglers of poppy husk and opium,” said Gupta.

Figures show that 8,500 patients addicted to various drugs have undergone treatment at government and private drug de-addiction centres in Barnala district since May 2018.

Administration officers said apart from de-addiction, they were also working for the rehabilitation of de-addicted youths.

During the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner also checked the facilities being provided to addicted youths at the village level.

SSP Harjit Singh, SDM Sandeep Kumar, ADC (D) Parveen Kumar, Civil Surgeon Dr Jugal Kishore, SP Sukhdev Singh Virk, SP Sharanjit Singh, all DSPs and Health Department officials were also present during the meeting.

The Deputy Commissioner said administrative officials, DAPO volunteers and the district police had been working to create awareness against drugs by organising seminars and workshops at educational institutes and villages.

“The Tu Mera Buddy drive has also been running successfully in Barnala in which students in groups are keeping an eye on fellow students to ensure that none of them gets trapped in drugs,” the Deputy Commissioner said.