Capt demands National Drug Policy - Advocates life imprisonment for drug lords
Thursday, 23/01/2014
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Chandigarh :Soon after evoking strong resentment from within his own party and facing allegations of “partying” with the ruling party for opposing the CBI probe into the drug racket busted by Punjab Police recently, former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday came up with a demand of a comprehensive National Drug Policy to deal with the growing drug menace across the country.
“As a single state cannot confront the problem alone and in isolation, a national body is the need of the hour,” the Permanent Invitee to the Congress Working Committee emphasised.
In a statement issued here, Capt Amarinder said that during his term as the chief minister, he had raised the matter five times as Punjab’s primary issue in the Chief Ministers’ conference, twice with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and thrice with present PM Manmohan Singh, that in order to curb the menace of drugs there needed to be a National Drug Policy.
“I had pointed out then that in states like Madhya Pradesh, drugs are freely grown and sold, and in Rajasthan drugs are freely sold. Since Punjab borders Rajasthan, it automatically becomes the market for home-grown drugs. Drugs from Pakistan have been an ongoing problem for years and despite the BSF’s best efforts, drugs do slip by and enter the market in the country. Once again, Punjab is the main market,” he said.
The former PPCC chief pointed out, “Today, home-produced chemical drugs are the latest in the list, and their potency even more damaging than the earlier types. That is why, I have always emphasised that the problem of drugs can only be solved by evolving a national policy, which deals both with the national as well as international aspect. An individual state like Punjab that has a long international border and also a border with Rajasthan cannot do it on its own.”
The senior Congress leader said the time has also come today to amend the law to increase the penalty for drug-related crime manifold, so that a serious deterrent faces the current and prospective drug smugglers, manufacturers and traders.
“In some countries, death penalty is mandatory for drug trade,” he reminded, adding, “There is no reason why life imprisonment should not be there in India.”
