Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar Tuesday chaired a meeting to discuss the strategy to be adopted to handle drug abuse in the state. The meeting also discussed the measures already taken by the state government to eliminate the menace and devise action plan to effectively deal with drug abuse.
The meeting was attended by IG Crime Ahfadul Mujtaba, ExciseCommissioner M Raju, Secretary Law Achal Sethi, Drug Controller DFCO LotikaKhajuria, Joint Director FSL Srinagar Aga Aijaz Hussain and other concernedofficers, according to an official spokesperson.
During the meeting, deliberations were held on variousissues that need to be addressed to have a strong and effective mechanism tocurb drug menace in the state. Role and responsibility of all the stakeholdersin the process was discussed in detail and were asked to undertake coordinatedefforts in this regard.
The meeting decided that all the deputy commissioners beinvolved for proper community participation so that public is directly involvedin the process of keeping the youth away from getting addicted to the substanceabuse.
While discussing the role of Excise Department in putting astrong check on entry of drugs to the state, the Advisor asked ExciseCommissioner and Drug Controller to work in a coordinated manner to stop thetrafficking of drugs to the state.
With regard to the use of Drug Helpline started by Drugs& Food Control Organization, the Advisor asked for properly publicising thenumber so that people start using this platform to join the fight against drugabuse. Meanwhile, the progress on prosecution and conviction made in the casesregistered under NDPS Act were also reviewed.
Drug Controller was asked to control the misuse of somedrugs which are easily available in the market and are dangerous for use. Itwas also asked to identify those drugs and recommend them to the concernedagency for notifying them under NDPS Act.
Besides, working of drug de-addiction and rehabilitationcenters established by Jammu Kashmir Police was also reviewed during themeeting. Progress of drug cases being investigated by State Forensic Labs wasalso discussed, the Advisor asked FSL officers to prioritize the cases as pertheir importance.