Unexplained drug related deaths and poor plight of drug De-addiction centres in the state emerged as key concerns during the Punjab Dialogue on Drugs initiated by the Aam Aadmi Party here today. Senior AAP leaders Chander Suta Dogra, Dinesh Chadha, Major Singh, and Chander Shekhar initiated the dialogue at Sadbhawna De-addiction Centre run by Dr AK Banerjee, where drug-addicts, their parents and Panchayat members of the nearby villages thronged the venue to share their experiences on the menace of drug-abuse.Revealing that there were number of deaths in the area due to drugs, but remained unexplained as Police did not register any case, Parents of the drug-addicts demanded time-bound inquiry into such suspicious drug-related deaths in the state. They alleged that hundreds of drug-addicts aged between 20 to 30 years were murdered by the drug mafia when they tried to come out of their addition.No FIR and no investigation initiated by the police in such deaths by terming these deaths due to overdose of drugs, Families rued.One of the drug-addict youth, Chetan Pal Singh revealed that in February 2015 he was arrested by the Police as two grams of heroin was recovered from him, but no action against the suppliers of the drug was not taken, even after his revelation about them to Cops.
Dr AK Banerjee emphasised on the need of an extensive awareness campaign against drugs in schools and colleges and said counselling of the addicts and their families is also part of the de-addiction.“There is no proper de-addiction medical protocol in place for the de-addiction centres to follow”, Dr Banerjee said.Another drug-addicted youth Sukhjeeb explained how his one of the hand got to be amputated due to extreme addiction.While cursing state government for ignoring the menace of drugs in the state, families rued that government officers never visited the de-addiction centres to monitor its functioning.In their concluding remarks, AAP leaders said that upcoming government of the party would break the nexus between politicians and police to get rid of the menace, on priority.“AAP is planning a well-researched rehabilitation package for thousands of drug-addicts of Punjab”, they revealed.