Lift ban on traditional drugs: Patiala MP

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 6

Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi on Thursday advocated the need to lift ban on traditional drugs and allow poppy husk cultivation in Punjab.

He was participating in former Congress leader Jagmeet Brar’s Mukti Yatra, which reached here on Thursday morning.

Talking to mediapersons, Gandhi said the state government should open poppy husk vends in the state. The ban on traditional drugs, such as poppy husk, had led to the inflow of more dangerous synthetic drugs, such as heroin and smack, in the border state.

“You have medical and synthetic drugs available in the state now. Those in the drug trade are also resorting to aggressive marketing and the state’s unemployed youth are falling prey to drug addiction. If we want to break the backbone of the thriving drug trade in the state, we will have to lift the ban on traditional drugs,” Gandhi said.

He alleged that there was a strong nexus between drug traders, politicians and police in the state.

Meanwhile, Jagmeet Brar said the Yatra had evoked an overwhelming response with a large number of people participating in it, rising above religious and caste lines. He will kick off the second phase of the campaign in Doaba region after September 14, where it will start from Sultanpur Lodhi and culminate at Dera Baba Nanak.

The Mukti Yatra is aimed at sensitising people on the burning issues that Punjab is facing today. He expressed grave concern on the increasing number of farm suicides and the trend among the state’s youth to migrate to foreign countries. The agrarian crisis in the state is deepening with each passing day, he lamented.

Brar also stressed the need to generate employment avenues for the state’s youth to curb their exodus to other countries. He said the Union Government should grant special status to Punjab, as the state is the grain bowl and the sword arm of the country. The Kartarpur Sahib Corridor should be opened to facilitate the pilgrims on the historic occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev next year, he added.