In order to put a stop on the increasing drug abuse cases in the district, Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arun Mohan Joshi said that a full fledged campaign will be conducted in three phases against drug abuse. Initially police will be targeting suppliers and retailers who are selling drugs to people especially students in Dehradun. Later on, the police will issue an advisory to educational institutions in the second phase and in the third stage a detailed awareness campaign will be conducted.
It is pertinent to mention here that in the past ten days district police have seized 1.41 kilogrammes of hashish, 1.245 kilogrammes of smack, 18.910 kilogrammes of Ganja and 95 injectable drugs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
In the excise cases, 223 crates and 11 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), 224 crates and eight bottles of country liquor, 117 litre of locally brewed liquor and 22 crates of beer were seized.
Regarding this SSP Joshi said, “We consistently seize such items but now we are focusing on retailers and dealers. The idea is to completely stop the import of such drugs in the district. The major focus will be on narcotics like hashish, smack and other hard drugs which not only affects a person psychologically but also biologically. Then in the second category we have placed ganja which can be given up by a user using will power.”
He further said, “We are also working on a detailed advisory for educational institutions in which we will be focusing on three major factors that is traffic, drugs and crime. In all three categories we will be mentioning our expectations and their accountability. In the third phase we will be conducting a widespread awareness campaign.”
According to official sources, Premnagar, Patelnagar, Clement Town and Rajpur areas are seeing rise in drug abuse as these areas have the maximum number of educational institutions.
Station House Officer (SHO) of Premnagar police station NS Gehlawat said, “There are nearly 105 hostels in this area, it is next to impossible to keep track of the activities happening in about two thousand rooms. However, we are patrolling consistently in places which are secluded and have less population. Also, if we find students using drugs we counsel them and their parents.”
