The Manipur State Drug Policy on Psychoactive Substance 2019 has been implemented in the state, while some parts of the policy might not be executed yet, state Social Welfare director Ngangom Uttam Singh said. He said the state government is putting all efforts to adopt it effectively to put an end to the drug menace in the state.
The social welfare director was speaking during the observance ceremony of Global Day of Action-2022 as a part of “Support. Don’t Punish” campaign at IMA Hall, Lamphelpat on Monday. The programme was organised by the Social Awareness Service Organisation (SASO).
Addressing the function as chief guest, Uttam said the seriousness to fight drug menace is increasing each day from every section of society, including the government, NGOs, civil society organisations, and local clubs.
He further said that considering the elimination of drug problems requires a multi-prong approach. The policy gives thrust in supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction in the state. These three approaches have been implemented. To seize drugs and destroy poppy cultivated land under “War on Drugs” are part of supply reduction.
Fast track court to deal with narcotic-related issues was also opened. Even the NDPS Act has become more stringent as habitual offenders can be detained for one to two years even if he or she does not possess any psychoactive substance when they are caught, Uttam said.
About demand reduction and harm reduction, some of the rehabilitations are provided in de-addiction centres run under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, a state-owned de-addiction centre was also recently inaugurated, an awareness programme on drugs was conducted at school, college level, essay writing competition, musical concert, he added.
He further said that there might be some areas which are yet to be covered under the policy as it was implemented a year ago. It would be a privilege for the department concerned if people shared their opinion and suggestions to mend any kind of loopholes that exist, he said.
Appealing to every service provider who deals with drug user communities, he said that NGOs or service providers of drug user communities should perform their service with sincerity, dedication and honesty so that drug users can come to mainstream successfully. The only indicator of success of movement against drugs is when such service providers don’t get any complaints about drug addiction. There is a need for collective effort to achieve that level, he said.
Presenting his keynote address, general secretary of SASO, RK Tiken said that Global Day of Action is one of the main activities of the “Support. Don’t Punish” campaign which takes place on or around June 26 every year. The campaign seeks to put harm reduction on the political agenda by strengthening the mobilization capacity of communities, Tiken added.
He further said that the scenario of drug issues in the state is very critical. The cases of victimisation or criminalization of drug users by some sections of society for their vested interest is also increasing, he stated and added that there is a need to halt such practices otherwise it would lead to negative consequences.
Other dignitaries who attended the function were director of SLCA, Manipur, Dr A Jayanta Kumar Singh; department of Anthropology, Manipur University, prof MC Arun; joint director (Targeted Intervention) of Manipur State AIDS Control Society, Abhiram Mongjam and president of Harm Reduction Network Manipur, Hijam Dinesh as guests of honour and president respectively.
