Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; reiterates demand for national drug policy

Reiterating his demand for a national drug policy to check drug menace, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to vise Ministries of Home, Social Justice & Empowerment and Health & Family Welfare to dress this important issue with a little more seriousness than it has received so far.

In his letter,  Chief Minister sought personal intervention of  prime minister for formulation of a national policy on all three components - Enforcement, De-diction and Prevention of drug abuse in country.

In letter  Punjab Chief Minister asserted that a national policy will enable all States to follow similar, if t same, approach and strategy to curb this menace, which has substantially hampered  health of people, particularly youth.

Chief Minister wrote, "In last two deces, prevalence of illicit trafficking of drugs has assumed alarming proportions in India too. latest survey report titled "Magnitude of Substance Abuse in India" released in February 2019 by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment with collaboration of National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, indicates that drug abuse in India is a significant problem and multi-pronged and coordinated policy interventions are required to tackle it effectively."

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Captain Amarinder ded that his state's willingness to associate with concerned officers of  Government of India t only to evolve policy but also to put in place an effective mechanism for its implementation in larger national interest.

Highlighting fact that State of Punjab shares a 553-km border with Pakistan and has strategic significance for safety and security of our country, Captain Amarinder Singh raised security concerns emerging out of narco-terrorism which were rar more grave in context of Punjab.

He furr pointed out that Substance abuse was undoubtedly a global problem entailing heavy socio-ecomic costs to both individuals and society.

Sharing his government's path-breaking initiatives of last two years to check drug menace and to expand its outreach at grassroots to make towns and vills in state drug-free, Chief Minister impressed upon PM Modi to extend liberal financial support to increase and strengn Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) Clinics in Punjab, currently being run on meagre state resources.

A three-pronged EDP - Enforcement, De-diction and Prevention - strategy has been opted for coordinated efforts on all fronts, Chief Minister informed Prime Minister, ding that accordingly a "Comprehensive Action against Drug Abuse" (CA) Plan was being implemented in State.

tably, OOAT clinics have been appreciated by AIIMS, New Delhi, as a unique initiative to treat drug dicts with care and compassion.  Punjab Government has also launched two invative programmes - Drug Abuse Prevention Officers (DAPO) and Buddy Programmes, with a view to prevent drug abuse.

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