Captain: anti-drug drive over with arrest of mere addicts?
Monday, 09/06/2014
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CHANDIGARH: Deputy leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked the Punjab government if the much hyped anti-drug campaign had ended with the arrest of helpless addicts and no big producer or supplier caught.
In a statement issued here, Amarinder pointed out that in more than two weeks o f crackdown, the stat e police had arrested tens of hundreds of addicts, mostly youth fallen prey to this scourge. “Why has the government not caught peddlers and suppliers? The addicts must have dropped clues to the source of the drugs,” he said.
Of Punjab’s enormous drug supply chain, the police had only arrested the consumers, said Amarinder, asking the government: “If the police have arrested any big fish, why have their names been kept confidential?”
The arrest of mere addicts wouldn’t solve the problem, said the ex-CM, adding: “This is just panic reaction to the drubbing in the elections and not a serious initiative to cleanse Punjab of this scourge.”
He said the young addicts caught during the campaign should be treated and rehabilitated instead of being kept in lockups and jails.
“Their families are the worst sufferers, and the arrests have added to their sufferings,” he further said.
