Imphal Area Service Committee of Narcotics Anonymous (IASCNA) kicked off its three-day long convention “Narcotic Anonymous Convention of Imphal Area-8” on Sunday at St Paul’s Retreat Centre under the theme “Relations with Other”.
Speaking to the media on the second day of its convention, chairperson of IASCNA, Ayekpam Wanglen said that this convention is all about celebration for recovery from drug addiction or drug abuse as a moral boost to integrate in the mainstream.
During the programme, those who have recovered from drugs will share their experiences faced in their life while trying to get out from addiction. Besides this, this convention provides a platform to present their talent which they have, he said.
He further said that the problem of drug menace has been occurring since the 1970s. Instead of reducing the issue, it is growing each year. As the problem of drug menace is getting chronic, there is a need for a multi-prong approach to curtail it, he added.
Providing right guidance is one of the foundational steps to address drug menace, he added, while stating that criminalization and undermining the drug abuse would not help to uproot the drug issue.
Informing one of the gateways to stop using drugs, he said that narcotic anonymous or simply NA is a non-profit fellowship of men and women for whom drugs have become a major problem. It was first formed in 1953 by a group of drug addicts in California, USA.
Today, it has spread across 144 countries around the globe and more than 70,000 meetings are held every week helping thousands of recovering addicts and those who want to recover from drug addiction.
Even in the state of Manipur, this programme was started way back in 1990 as Imphal Area Service Committee of Narcotic Anonymous. The committee is managed by as many as 15 groups in various districts of Manipur.
Daily meetings of at least an hour are held in many places by these groups to help the drug addicts come out of addiction. With the service offered by NA, many people have successfully recovered from drug addiction and are leading a meaningful and healthy lifestyle, he added.
