In a bid to eradicate drug abuse and illicit trafficking, Punjab government on Monday made a three-pronged strategy based on enforcement, de-addiction and prevention (EDP) for comprehensive action against use of drugs.

The move is being implemented meticulously at the ground level by the Special Task Force (STF) in association with concerned state departments and volunteers.

An official spokesperson said the STF has been supervising and guiding the district police officers to formulate an area specific strategy under this drive and implementation of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) effectively in the state.

“The objective of the enforcement strategy is to choke the supply lines of drugs and carry out effective action against drug smugglers and peddlers”, the spokesperson added. It was informed that STF constituted by the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s government to combat the drugs problem in Punjab has successfully choked trans-border and interstate-border drugs supply lines.

As per the details, a total of 16,305 NDPS Act cases registered and 18,800 people arrested since 16 March 2017. In addition to this narcotics substances like Heroin 377.787 kilogram (kg), Smack 14.336 kg, Charas 116.603 kg, Opium 1040.531 kg, Poppy Husk 50588 kg and Ice 9.035kg including injections 44929 and pills or capsules 48.10 Lakh have been confiscated by the district police and STF.

The spokesperson further revealed that state health department has also launched the Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) model on a pilot basis in Moga, Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.

Also, 60 additional Out Patient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centers have been made functional across the state to provide easy access to de-addiction treatment. The objective of treatment centers was to provide easy and accessible treatment to all drug abuse victims, the spokesperson added.

In order to make Punjab as a drug free state, the Drug Abuse Prevention Officers (DAPO) programme was launched by the CM to protect vulnerable sections from falling prey to drug abuse and generate awareness regarding ill-effects of drugs.

”Around 4.8 Lakh volunteer have already been registered who were facilitating those in need to avail of de-addiction and rehabilitation services in the state”, said the spokesperson. The spokesperson added that the Punjab government has also constituted committees for drug control, having total 15,000 members, in each and every village or ward of the state to train and coordinate all activities.

The STF in collaboration with the education department has launched the ‘Buddy Programme’ as a pilot project in the four sub-divisions of Tarn Taran district to protect school and college/university students against drug abuse, the spokesperson added.