Morung Express news
Kohima | November 7
The menace of illicit drug trafficking has become widespread in Nagaland calling for anti-drug movement or war on drugs by the state enforcement agency.
A live interactive programme series on ‘A Drug Free Nagaland’ was organised by Akashvani Kohima with Nagaland Police on role of police in drug control and illicit trafficking with panel of experts joined by Superintendent of Police, Bharat Laxman Markad, Additional Superintendent of Police, Relo T Aye and Psychiatric Social Worker, District Mental Health Programme, NHAK, Kohima, Veronica Nriame.
During the series, it was shared that the police as an enforcement agency today make multi-dimensional efforts to combat and prevent flow of drug and abuse so as make Nagaland a drug free.
Additional SP Kohima, Relo T Aye said although seizures as far as quantity are concerned, capital Kohima and Dimapur being major national highway link, see more records.
“But seizures of illicit drugs have not only been confined in these two districts but spread across all other parts of the state,” SP Laxman supplemented.
Speaking about the efforts and strategies of the enforcement agency, the SP underscored that a strategy focusing on supply side and demand side is to disrupt the supply chain and to reduce the demand and coordinate with the sister agencies keeping in mind that the drug menace calls for multi faceted and multi-dimensional response.
In addition, known core areas to have educative awareness for students and vulnerable sections of the society, he added.
Remarking about adolescents and teenagers into illicit drug abuse and peddling, Relo T Aye said the law has certain limitations for such category of individuals where the purview of the law for instance Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act cannot be fully applied to children below the age of 18 years which becomes a primary challenge. “Since we cannot confine them, the most we can do is inform concerned parents or guardian about their involvement in drug.”
Adding to this, SP Laxman said the way law looks at the juvenile is to reform them rather than to punish them and find out how they can be ridden of the use as per the Juvenile Justice Act.
Comparing a scenario where the police hands over a juvenile to concerned authorities, Veronica suggested that the first step would be harm reduction and provide psycho education not only to the victim but to their family as part of secondary prevention measure.
Awareness is largely required for the larger section of the society so as to open the doors of coming out of stigma and fear on mental health and drug abuse related issues, she opined.
Speaking about Narcotic drugs bureau for the state, the SP said Narcotic drugs bureau is present at the national level with zonal offices. However, with respect to the state, there is a Narcotic police station under the CID establishment of Nagaland Police and in every district Anti Narcotic Task Force (ANTF). ANTF in collaboration with Narcotic PS make coherent effort to tackle the menace. Especially with the declaration of war on drugs, ADSP said things are moving at a fast pace at the Narcotics cell especially in term of coordination among the task force agents in the district.
