Imphal, January 04 01 2010: Certain loopholes in the existing Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and its related legislations under which the State Police Department works has been one of the major stumbling block in the efforts of controlling drug supply and conviction of the offender in the State, SP of Imphal East District Th Radheshyam has pointed out.

Participating in a day-long convergence meeting on drug abuse prevention at the conference hall of Hotel Classic, North AOC here today, Radheshyam, who spoke on law enforcement perspective on drug abuse prevention, informed that when it comes to tackling the problem of drug abuse and its market in Manipur, the State Police Department has been giving emphasis on cutting the supply line as this would ultimately put a stop cork on the demand.

However, in majority of the cases, it has been quite difficult to catch the actual offenders due to various loopholes in the existing legislations, thereby negating the effort of the Police Department as one of the law enforcing agencies in dealing with the problem effectively, he said.

The mandate that an individual cannot be declared offender until proved despite being arresting with supporting evidences and knowing well that the said individual has a hand in the criminal act as well as the schemes of punishment expounded are not sufficient deterrent to meet the growing challenges, he added.

Speaking on the issue of mental health and abuse of psychotropic substances, Dr Lenin of Psychiatrist Department, RIMS, explained that drug abusers including alcoholics are more prone to mental health problems like depression, low self esteem, suicide, delusion of infidelity, dementia, etc and treatment of mental health problems with addition is psychotropic substances is more difficult needing special methodology.

Earlier, Director of Social Welfare Department Sarat Sharma, while speaking on the Government policies and programmes in drug abuse prevention disclosed that although integration of vocational training for drug addicts for their reintegration into the society is part of the Government policy though it is yet to be implemented fully.

Giving a presentation on the response and gaps in drug abuse prevention in Manipur, Padmashree Dr A Jayanta, who is also the Director of RRTC NE-I, observed that drug abuse is a serious problem in Manipur as it is affecting the youngsters between the age group of 15 to 35 years, who are the most productive population of the society unlike in other States of the country where addiction is found mainly among people of advanced age group.

Limited resources, manpower, inadequate primary prevention programmes and poor participation of the civil societies and absence of clear cut policy of the Government are some of the major concerns that should be addressed to arrest the trend of ever rising drug abuse in Manipur today, he added.

Organised by the Dept of Social Welfare, Govt of Mnipur in collaboration with IWCDC, Thangmeiband, the meeting attended by representatives of media, law enforcement agencies, judiciary, educationists, NGOs, etc aimed at bringing about a holistic approach to drug abuse prevention programme by facilitating a working relationship among the stakeholders.

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