Bhubaneswar: The Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department Wednesday organised a sensitisation workshop on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
SSEPD Minister Ashok Chandra Panda, Niten Chandra, the Principal Secretary of SSEPD, Sushil Kumar Lohani, the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Excise department, Santosh Kumar Upadhyay, the Additional DGP of CID, Crime Branch and Ambika Prasad Patnaik, the Deputy Secretary of SSEPD attended the workshop.
As per a report of Global Report on Trends in Prevalence of Tobacco Smoking 2000-2025 by WHO, tobacco use is a major preventable cause of death worldwide. Approximately 7 million people die around the world every year.
“Every day, almost 2,500 people die in India due to tobacco. Many people develop asthma and bronchitis apart from cancer and heart disease,” the report said.
Patnaik said many youngsters in high schools and colleges turn to drugs. The role of parents and teachers is essential at this stage to give them support and prevent them from using drugs. In most cases, youths use drugs due to isolation and lack of support from parents.
Lohani said drugs can give only temporary relief, but makes the user addicted to it. Depression and anxiety are some of the other reasons why people to turn to drugs, he mentioned.
The Excise secretary said that in the Capital city we regularly get information about rave parties where toxic drugs are consumed by young people. He said that Excise teams have raided these parties frequently.
“There is a misconception that drugs are consumed only by the poor. Actually both the rich and the poor consume drugs. Drug trafficking is a $400 billion industry with estimates of $100 billion to $110 billion for heroin, $110 billion to $130 billion for cocaine, $75 billion for cannabis and $60 billion for synthetic drugs,” he added.
ADGP Upadhyay said narcotic plants are cultivated on a large scale in districts like Ganjam, Kandhamal, Khurda and Phulbani.
“In 2017-18, the Crime Branch and the Excise department destroyed 4,000 acres and in 2018-19 we destroyed 11,000 acres of narcotic plants. We also seized 5,090 quintals of drugs from the state last year,” the ADGP added.
He said that in Odisha there were a lot of interstate gangs selling narcotic drugs. Recently, 39 people were arrested in Koraput for selling drugs. Of this, 30 were from outside the state. They are bringing drugs from Bangladesh and Myanmar and selling it in the City, he added.
Niten Chandra said Odisha has 39 Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for drug addicts covering all districts.
“We also take the help of institutes like the Brahmakumari Ishwariya Vidyalaya and organisations like Art of Living. They give drug addicts a new lease of life and help them recover. There are drug de-addiction wards in all hospitals,” he said.
Around 200 delegates from NGOs, colleges, universities and IRCAs attended the workshop and discussed the medical and clinical perspective of drug addiction and community-based interventions for reducing drug abuse.
Many institutions, Gram Panchayats and individuals were given awards for their outstanding contributions in the field of drug de-addiction.
