Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday turned down a proposal of legalising opium cultivation and underscored that a special force has been set up to clamp down on drug menace.
“I am not in favour of allowing cultivation of opium as Punjab was battling a serious drug problem,” he said while talking with the media after his meeting with the Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
His statement came at a time when Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ‘suspended’ MP from Patiala Dr Dharamvir Gandhi had suggested the idea of opium cultivation while demanding the legalisation of opium production sale and consumption, Dr Gandhi’s was recently backed by his own Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Capt Amarinder said: “I am not in favour of growing anything. We are against the concept of drugs. We are fighting it like anything. I have created a special force to deal with it, whether it is heroin or opium. I am against it (the proposal) and Punjab will not do it.”
Sidhu backing Gandhi had stated, “Dharamvir Gandhi is doing a very good thing, I support him. My uncle used to take opium as a medicine and lived a long life.”
Capt Amarinder, on Monday, had reiterated the need for a national drug policy to save the young generation from the drug menace while stressing that a comprehensive formula is needed at the central level to effectively check drug abuse.
On the issue of Kartarpur corridor, the Chief Minister said that he had written to the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter with Pakistan to enable opening of the corridor for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Sahib next year.