Amritsar MP urges Modi to formulate National Drug Policy

Tuesday, 01/07/2014

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=109294&boxid=57981&uid=&dat=2014-07-01

Chandigarh : Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for formulating a National Drug Policy, which he said comprehensively address the problem of drug addiction across the country and Punjab in particular, where he alleged the problem was assuming dangerous propositions.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Amarinder said, “Without a coordinated effort by various states under the guidance of the Centre, it is not possible to eradicate this problem that is eating into the vitals of our younger generation”.

Expressing lack of faith in the Punjab government, he said, “I do not have much faith in, and any expectations from the Punjab government, and the situation has now reached a stage that, according to some surveys, 70 per cent of youth in Punjab have tried drugs once in a while, and many of them have fallen prey to its addiction.”

Amarinder said that during his tenure as the Chief Minister, he had repeatedly and regularly during the Chief Ministers’ conferences, which he (Modi) also attended as the Gujarat Chief Minister, strongly argued for formulating a National Drug Policy.

“But unfortunately, even after the passage of over a decade nothing has been done so far,” he said.

“Today, the drug addiction has mostly afflicted my state, Punjab. Tomorrow, it may spread across the country and it will be difficult to curb it if and when it assumes epidemic proportions,” he warned. Giving background of the problem, he said that there were three sources of drugs being supplied in Punjab.

“One comes from across the border. Our security forces at the borders have been keeping a check on these, but still some parts manage to enter India”.

The second, the Amritsar MP said, was the one that was produced in Madhya Pradesh, where there was no restriction on growing poppy and selling opium. “It then travels to Rajasthan, where it is legally traded. Since Punjab being on the border with Rajasthan, it becomes a lucrative market. The relative affluence of people in Punjab also makes them easy targets of the drug trade,” he said.

The third type of drugs, he stated, were produced locally which, were called synthetic drugs.

“These are cheaply produced within Punjab,” he claimed.

Amarinder pointed out that although there was a total ban on growing or trading in poppy or its products in Punjab, it hardly served any purpose as long as it was not banned in the states where it can be freely produced and traded.

“And this is the reason I am calling for an urgent initiative on your part to formulate a uniform National Drug Policy that would be applicable across the country,” he said.

“It was important that the Union government was ceased of the matter since I did not have much faith in, and any expectations from the Punjab government,” the Congress leader wrote.

He added that regardless of what Badal says, Punjab lacks the resources to equip and maintain drug addiction centres, where in some cases, patients require over a year’s treatment as in patients if they were required to be cured and sent home to run normal lives, and daily medication was of no use.

“Centre will be required to fund and operate these centres in conjunction with Punjab to ensure that the Central funds are not diverted,” he added.