Himachal Pradesh Governor, Bandaru Dattatraya stressed the need for more vigilance and sustained efforts in the border areas to check illegal trafficking of drugs.

Speaking at the International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking at Police headquarters here, he said drug addiction not only affects a person or family, but the entire society and there was an urgent need that police administration work more vigorously to eliminate this social evil.

He expressed happiness that the police administration was making all-out efforts to curb this menace and appealed to the people to cooperate with the police in the campaign against drug addiction.

“Himachal Pradesh is known as Dev Bhoomi and its culture, lifestyle and ideology is very rich. But it is unfortunate that the problem of drug abuse has cropped up severely and if we will not check it immediately, the situation may become worse in the days to come”, said the Governor.

Dattatraya appreciated the initiative of the state government for launching Drug Free Himachal App to check illegal trafficking and said that through technology we could change the society. He advised the police to strengthen the intelligence department of police. He also advised non-government organizations in anti-drug awareness campaigns.

He said that parents, teachers, physicians and voluntary organizations should be trained and involved in medical and rehabilitation efforts in a big way. He stressed to set up more rehabilitation centers.

The Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said although a large number of cases were registered against drug peddlers, most of them were from neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana. Therefore, the foremost priority of the state government was to share the information about these drug peddlers amongst the neighbouring states.

Thakur said that on his initiative the neighbouring states of Himachal like Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan etc. agreed to frame a joint strategy to curb this social vice which was a threat to the existence of our society. He said that the first meeting was held with the Chief Ministers of the neighbouring States at Panchkula and it was decided that a joint secretariat would be established at Panchkula to jointly monitor and share information regarding drug trafficking.

He said that the drug abuse was universal problem and it should be tackled with a might to save the existence of society. He said that most stringent laws were required to nab the drug peddlers. He said that the property of those involved in drug trafficking would be confiscated. He said alarming number of youth using synthetic drugs was indeed a matter of concern.

He said that special thrust must be laid on educating the younger generation regarding ill effects of drug abuse on our body, mind and society.

The Chief Minister said that in Himachal Pradesh charas or cannabis was one of the major substances used by drug addicts, but now synthetic drugs have emerged as a major area of concern. He said that substance addiction has a severe impact not only on the individual, but those closest to them and society as a whole.

He said that drug abuse and peddling also attribute to crime, disease, accidents, domestic violence, abuse, job loss, and homelessness.

Thakur said that long term strategy must be chalked out to engage youth in constructive activities.