The South Asian Drugs and Addictions Research Council (SA-DARC), India in collaboration with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), US and International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), UK organised a public interactive session on Drugs, Health and Policy on August 25 at Dwarka in Delhi.

The session that was attended by enforcement officials, lawyers, psychologists, social workers, academicians, representatives Delhi state legal services, civil society organisations, recovering drug users etc discussed a variety of issues.

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The major topics discussed were including the meaning of drugs to the mechanism of addiction, recovery strategies, laws relating to narcotics and how stigma and discrimination continue to breed criminalisation.

An initiative of SA-DARC titled Substance Abuse Education and Prevention Project for schools in India was also unveiled on the occasion. It is titled aptly “Protecting our Future” and has laid down the essentials of a school-based prevention programme which includes modules designed for different age groups and a mandatory module for the parents.

It also incorporates and recommends that professional development of staff in substance abuse education be made mandatory.

Education in substance abuse should be an ongoing process with strict quality controls and evaluation procedures to ensure that quality training is imparted to students and teachers.

Speaking at the event, Madhuri Rawat Varshney, Secretary RISE Foundation, praised the initiative. She held that education was the only resistance in the prevention of substance abuse, particularly among the children.

The major highlight of the event was a performance based on the theme of the occasion, Know Drugs for No Drugs, by the Dramatics group of Deshbandhu College.

There was a consensus that there exists a disconnect between research, policy and practice which requires urgent redressal.

Other issues of concern which were raised and discussed were the stringent penalties of the NDPS Act, the pathetic condition in the rehabilitation centres, and the quest for alternatives which has to be paced up if the country is to make any headway in managing substance abuse disorders.