GUWAHATI:
The Assam government will soon formulate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for rehabilitating drug users kept at private rehabilitation centres in the state.
This was decided at a meeting organised by the Assam police to observe the International Day against Drugs Abuse and Illicit trafficking at the Assam Police Headquarters under the aegis of CID on June 26.
Addressing the meeting, state minister for social justice and empowerment, Pijush Hazarika stressed drawing up an SOP for regulating the rehabilitation and de-addiction centres in the state.
In his address, Hazarika lauded the efforts of the Assam Police for their zero-tolerance action against drug traffickers.
Hazarika stressed sensitising the parents and the society about the ill effects of the use of drugs and said that they can play a pivotal role in curbing the use of drugs.
The minister also laid stress on creating mass awareness against drugs by involving all stakeholders and said that the government is keenly working to make the state of Assam drugs free.
In his welcome address, ADGP CID, AYV Krishna, mentioned that there has to be a three-pronged strategy namely supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction to tackle the drug menace.
Krishna said that a record number of 3,232 cases have been registered under NDPS Act and more than 5,400 drug peddlers/traffickers have been arrested, 388 vehicles used for drug trafficking have been seized, more than 100 kgs of heroin, 2,70,000 bottles of cough syrup, 39,42,000 tablets and several other banned narcotic substances have been seized. Cash and foreign currency worth Rs 2.80 crore have also been seized from the possession of drug paddlers, and 31 bighas of cannabis cultivation and 648 bighas of opium cultivation have been destroyed.
The CID Assam has an App named “Drugs Free Assam” prepared with the help of NIC which can be downloaded through the Google Play Store. This App has been successfully downloaded by citizens and continuous information is pouring in through this channel, the identity of the informant is kept confidential. District-wise nodal officers have been detailed to immediately act upon the information received through this App.
In his address, DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta stressed the need for a multipronged strategy to tackle the drug menace.
Mahanta requested the social justice department to devise standard guidelines for permitting the setting up and running of the de-addiction centres.
The DGP called upon the education and health departments to include drug abuse awareness in the academic curriculums.
Mahanta said that Assam Police has been working towards supply deduction continuously, now the need of the hour is to focus on demand reduction.
The meeting was also addressed by principal secretary (home and political) Niraj Verma, principal secretary (health and FW) Avinash P D Joshi, principal secretary (social justice and empowerment) Mukesh Chandra Sahu.
Earlier, on July 29, 2021, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a meeting with the State Level Coordinating Agency (SLCA) on Drug Prevention, had advocated for a drug rehabilitation policy, urging the social welfare department to prepare a draft of the policy in consultation with various experts and stakeholders.
The meeting was also graced by the senior Assam Police officers, officials from the health department, social justice and empowerment, excise department, education department, home department, FSL, information & public relations, doctors, principals, and representatives of various NGOs.