Awareness programme held : CADA raises posers on 'War on Drugs' mission
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, March 25 2022:
With a mission to eradicate abuse of addictive substances, Coalition against Drugs & Alcohol (CADA) along with Thoubal District UniFed Women's Development Organisation (Thoubal Ima) and Chairel Panthoibi Marup jointly organised an awareness campaign at Chairel Khongnang Leikai, Kakching on Friday.
The awareness programme was attended by Chairel Panthoibi Marup president Laishram Loidang, senior citizen Nungu Heikrujam Mayol, Thoubal Ima president Sapam (o) Bimola and CADA vice president Dipanjit Ningthoujam as presidium members.
Speaking as resource person of the awareness programme, CADA secretary organisation Mayengbam Budhi called for stopping the 'War on drugs' campaign that could not track down and punish the real culprits despite seizing illegal drugs and destruction of poppy cultivation.
Illegal drugs worth crores are being seized in the state frequently.
So, it could be considered that the number of drug peddlers and people who want easy money are increasing every day, he opined.
Ridiculing the government's inability to punish the drug lords despite seizing huge quantities of drugs almost every day, he contended that they never heard of punishing those involved in big drug cases till now.
He cited that drug case involving army officer Lt Col Ajay Chaudhary, drug haul from Bir Tikendrajit International Airport and Phoudel drug case in which drugs worth more than Rs 400 crore seemed to have been frozen and Myanmar citizen accused in Phoudel case was also granted bail.
Moreover, the case of Lukhosei Zou from whose residence drugs worth crores of rupees were seized was also acquitted, he recalled.
Budhi observed that NDPS Act and the fast track court seem to be useless in the state.
The state government's short-sighted campaign of 'War on Drugs' by simply destroying some poppy cultivation could not be effective in eradicating illegal drugs from the state.
Though the poppy cultivations were destroyed, the land owners or those who planted the poppy could not be arrested by the state government.
As such there is no meaning of the government's 'War on drugs' campaign, he asserted.