Shillong, June 26: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on Monday that over 40,000 youths are dependent on drugs thereby affecting their future.
Conrad said this during the observance of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking organised by Meghalaya police in collaboration with Social Welfare Department at U Soso Tham Auditorium.
He said as around 40,500 is the population which is addicted to drugs and there is an urgent need to make Meghalaya drug free.
“While the enforcement agencies are doing their work, we need to ensure that the 40,500 youth who are totally dependent on drugs are treated with empathy and taken care of so that they can integrate back into society as responsible and productive citizens,” he said.
Commending the work of the police in successfully nabbing drug dealers and seizing consignments worth crores in the past few months, the chief minister urged the department to continue their work to control and end the menace of drug abuse in the state.
He said observing the International Day against Drug Abuse is part of a larger plan to ensure that productive, responsible, healthy youth are produced for the future of the state. “All the welfare and developmental programmes and policies of the government will be meaningless if the youth are inflicted with drugs. Drugs destroy not only the abuser but the families, the society and the future,” he added.
Highlighting about DREAM (Drug Reduction, Elimination and Action Mission), the chief minister said that the operational cost for the implementation of DREAM is Rs 10 crore per year which works out to be Rs 50 crore for the next five years. “Different rehabilitation centers and detoxification centers will be established and NGOs will be financially assisted for treatment and rehabilitation and outreach programmes,” he said.
He also appealed to the NGOs, religious and academic institutions, community leaders and bodies to make the fight against drug abuse one of their priority agenda.
The Drug Reduction, Elimination and action Mission builds on the Meghalaya Drug Abuse Prevention Policy, 2020 to reach the goal of eliminating drug use in the state. It leverages culture and communities through a multifaceted coordinating strategy to eliminate the incidence of substance use in the state.
The chief minister also launched the Drug Free Meghalaya App, handed over the drug detection kits to Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), felicitated NGOs, individuals and ANTF for their efforts against drug abuse and released the song “Turn the Tide” by Khaki Vibes.
Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong, DGP, Meghalaya, Dr L R Bishnoi, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Shakeel P Ahammad, senior police officials, officers from Social Welfare department and students from various schools were also present on the occasion.
