On the occasion of International Day against Drugs on Tuesday, the authorities of Haryana government called upon the stakeholders to put their efforts to deal with the problem of drug addiction in the state.

Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Navraj Sandhu, said that all stakeholders must contribute their efforts to eradicating the menace from the society completely.

She was speaking at a one-day seminar on the topic of ‘Preventing Drug Abuse – The Issues Involved’ organised by the Haryana Police to mark the International Day against Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking at Police Officers Institute in Panchkula on Tuesday.

Sandhu suggested that strategic groups should be strengthened at state, district as well as community level to effectively deal with this problem. She underscored the important role every individual can play in creating awareness against drug addiction.

Sandhu said this crucial issue required to be addressed very seriously and effectively by all stakeholders. “Apart from strengthening the state level task force, preventing drug abuse should also be taken as a social campaign. More targeted approach should be required to achieve the desired result,” she added.

ACS, Medical Education and Research, Amit Jha, said that the problem of drug addiction could not tackle only at drug de-addiction centres and mental health centres.

Homemakers, parents and guardians would also have to shoulder the responsibility of such members as have fallen prey to this menace. In addition, awareness generation programmes against drugs should also be strengthened, he added.

The Departments of Police, Health, Social Justice and Empowerment and others have to act very closely and strictly to tackle this problem. The authorities concerned have to come down heavily on those involved in promoting drug abuse, he said.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Police (DGP), BS Sandhu, said drug addiction had become a very serious issue for the society at large and all-out efforts were being made by the Police department to combat and prevent it.

He said, the Police department is geared up to fight against this menace. “A month-long special campaign has been launched to crack down on drug peddlers in the state. It would continue up to 20 July. Under this, police have arrested 100 people during the last two months in Sirsa alone,” said the DGP.

The DGP also said stern action would be taken as per law if any state police officer or official is found involved in such kind of heinous crime.