Workshop held for state drug policy
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, January 19, 2011:
Users Manipur in association with Social Welfare Department organised a one day Workshop on making proper drug policy of the state today.
Speaking in the occasion, Assistant Professor CHinglen, Economic Department, Manipur University said that policy needs financial and political backing.
All the policies in the state were not formed under any political commitment.
But they were formed under the public pressure.
There is no difference between the existence and non existence of state policies in the state.
He said that people in the state are high thinkers.
But the society where they are living is not suitable for them.
The huge gap between the thinking of the public and the status of the society should be joined by a good politics.
In a speech, Advocate S Paikhomba, Legal Concultant, Human Rights Initiatives said that a person who is arrested for abusing drug cannot be published in the media before trial under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychopathic Substance Act (NDPS), 1987.However he may be produced before the media after he is found guilty by a court.
However in Manipur, anyone who is caught abusing and selling drugs is produced before the media by the police.
This may even lead to his acquittal.
Paikhomba further said that only punishing those persons involved in drug related cases will not bring solution to the problem.
The major drawback of the NDPS Act is the punishment they awarded to a guilty person.
He said that a person who is found guilty of abusing drug should not be considered as a criminal.
Instead they should be treated in a hospital.
Rehabilitation should also be a prime issue while discussing the problem and its solution, he said.
He also suggested for a State Drug Task Force for the successful making and implementation of State Drug Policy.