Srinagar, Sep 17: The Civil Society Forum (CSF) on Saturday demanded the introduction of the Drug Policy in Jammu and Kashmir.   
 “Even in this age of heightened activism towards the usage of drugs JK continues to remain without a comprehensive Drug Policy. Lack of such an important set of guidelines is giving rise to evils like sale of spurious medicine, drug abuse, spurious quality medicines even in hospitals,” a spokesman of CSF said in a statement. 
 According to an estimate, he said, medicines worth 600 crores are imported into Jammu and Kashmir every year. “In this regard the CSF has held detailed meetings and discussions with almost all stake holders in the state, including the state authorities from Health, Law, Police and various other institutes and individuals,” he added.
 “The CSF has prepared a comprehensive memorandum which details the points which needs to be incorporated in the Drug Policy of the state. Key members of the forum have kick started the process of building consensus among the important people so as to pave way for bringing in the policy,” the spokesman said.
 “In this regard members of the forum, including eminent doctors and experts in pharma met Minister for Law and parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Sagar, Minister for Agriculture Production Ghulam Hassan Mir, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Taj Mohi-ud-Din and MLA Langate Er Rasheed. Ministers were apprised of the urgent need to bring the Drug Policy in the state,” he said. “The ministers were also requested to discuss the issue internally so as to build a consensus. All the ministers have assured the CSF that the matter would be urgently looked into. After assessing different perspectives on the issue CSF firmly believes that the drug policy should be effectively brought in.
 The CSF has also studied the draft of the policy which has been prepared by the Health Ministry.”
 Experts have pointed some serious deficiencies in the proposed draft. The CSF requests the concerned authorities to look incorporate the points which have been highlighted by the experts in the final draft before being passed by the cabinet. Civil Society Forum is a non political social awareness group which comprises of eminent citizens of the state.
 CSF has been extensively working on the issue of drug abuse and drug addiction in the state. The forum has been organizing various drug de-addiction programs in the schools and colleges across the Valley.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
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