State to form peer groups to help addicts shun drugs

Tribune News Service

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Patiala, June 26

As part of its ongoing drive against the drug menace, the Punjab Government will be initiating a series of steps in the next few days.

Confirming the development at a state-level function to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said the most important move would be to form peer support groups at the village and block levels, besides the “buddy system” in educational institutions to tackle drug abuse in a systematic manner.

Mohindra, who was accompanied by ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu, Special Task Force (STF) chief, said the government would deploy drug abuse prevention officers in villages, blocks and districts across the state to help identify vulnerable addicts.

“The government has put an end to 90 per cent drug supply in the state in three months. In April and May, over 27,366 addicts were registered in OPDs of de-addiction centers, which is 35 per cent higher than last year. In 2016, over 1,49,409 addicts got treatment from government de-addiction centres, but the figure will see a rise this year as more and more people are voluntarily coming forward to give up drugs,” he claimed.

Hitting at the previous SAD-BJP government, Mohindra alleged that it was during their 10-year rule that drugs had spread its wings in Punjab but the Congress government had succeeded in breaking the chain of drug supply across the state.

Sidhu said after the formation of the STF, the drug supply had been curtailed by 90 per cent and there was a decline in the availability of heroin (chhita) following the crackdown.

About peer support groups, he said each group of five persons would provide systematic help to the addicts on their path to the drug-free world.

Ex-addicts attend seminar

Abohar: Many former addicts and their parents on Monday took part in a seminar organised on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking here. The function was organised jointly by the District Legal Services Authority and district police at Abohar Palace. For Dr Mahesh Kumar, incharge of the de-addiction centre at the civil hospital, these were happy moments as he found his patients in good health. The local centre was the first to be inaugurated in the state.

BJYM holds ‘run against drugs’ in 28 towns

Chandigarh: To mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the BJP Yuva Morcha  (BJPYM) today organised a “run against drugs” in 28 towns of the state. Union minister and BJP state president Vijay Sampla led the participants in Mukerian. “The menace of drug abuse could only be rooted out with the collaborative efforts of parents, society and the government,” said Sampla. Yuva Morcha leaders reached out to people in distant villages and subdivisions to ensure that the message against drugs was comprehensively delivered, said Vineet Joshi, state secretary, BJP. TNS