Law enforcement alone can�t combat drug abuse: IGP
Social commitment is an urgent need to combat illicit trafficking of drugs, along with its trade and abuse. Enforcement of law alone cannot stop it, according to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), AKM Shahidul Haq. He made the observation while inaugurating a week-long anti-drug debate at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) auditorium in the capital yesterday (Tuesday). Drug addiction is a national problem. Drugs have spread even to rural areas. This shows how terrible drug addiction is.
Social degradation is responsible for the increasing use of drugs. So, awareness on drug abuse and its demerits should be created from the family level. There should be a combined effort by people to stop the spread of drug abuse, he said.
The IGP said: In 2014, we filed 42,501 drug related cases. A huge amount of drugs was seized. But law enforcers alone cannot stop drug abuse. It can be controlled by launching a social movement. The police are trying to plug sources of drug supply through nationwide drives, along with building social awareness. Debate for Democracy and the Department of Narcotics Control jointly organised the debate that will conclude on 24 January.
Hassan Ahmed Chaw-dhury, chairman of Debate for Democracy, said most of the drug users are teenagers, and they are being gradually influenced by their associates, forming a cluster of drug abusers.
We should bear in mind that the state is deemed to fail where the youth fails. The state cannot ignore its responsibility of stopping drug abuses, he said.
