Punjab Assembly Committee Report Exposes the Failure of the 'War Against Drugs' Campaign: Dhillon
CHANDIGARH: Describing the report presented by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Committee on the alarming drug situation in the state as a document of the Aam Aadmi Party government's biggest failure, Bharatiya Janata Party Punjab President Sardar Kewal Singh Dhillon said that more than 65% of Punjab's youth being in the grip of drugs is a serious warning for the future of the state. He said the Assembly Committee's report has exposed the reality behind the government's claims of a "Drug-Free Punjab" and its "War Against Drugs" campaign.
Dhillon said that, according to the report, young people in the 18–35 age group are the worst affected by drug abuse. Even more alarming is the fact that the consumption of de-addiction medicines such as Buprenorphine has increased by 57% over the past four years, while there is a severe shortage of beds for treatment in civil hospitals. He said these figures clearly prove that the government has neither been able to curb drug abuse nor create an adequate treatment infrastructure for those suffering from addiction.
The BJP Punjab President recalled that Arvind Kejriwal had promised to eradicate drugs within three months of his party forming the government in Punjab. However, four and a half years later, the situation has become even more alarming than before. He said the government's "War Against Drugs" campaign has completely failed at the grassroots level and has remained confined to advertisements, publicity and hollow claims.
Dhillon said that if the government's claims were true, the consumption of de-addiction tablets would not have increased from around 700 million to nearly 1.1 billion. He questioned that if drug abuse was indeed declining, why had the demand for de-addiction medicines witnessed such a record increase? He alleged that instead of attacking the root cause of the drug menace, the government is attempting to hide its failure through statistics and publicity campaigns.
He said that the battle against drugs cannot be won merely through speeches and publicity campaigns. The government's priority should be to dismantle the drug supply chain, take stringent action against major drug traffickers without any political interference, and implement a time-bound and effective policy for the treatment, counselling and rehabilitation of drug-affected youth. Punjab's future can only be secured if its youth are protected.
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