Hyderabad: Police to provide rehab services to drug addicts

Hyderabad: The menace of drugs is growing in society and the number of drug consumers getting caught by the police is rising. This is giving sleepless nights to the city police. In order to curtail the growing addiction of drugs the police plan to provide rehabilitation services to the 377 drug addicts caught this year. With this noble intention, they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with three agencies which are working towards de-addiction.

Police Commissioner C V Anand said, "the MoU will provide a better opportunity for the arrested drug addicts who were later released on bail. The reason we have taken this step is because we are becoming unaware of the activities of addicts once they procure bail. They are completely going off the radar.

It is suspected that they are indulging again in drug business. Now that we have signed the MoU all 377 will be screened with their consent. The samples will be collected and they will be given counselling for de-addiction for a year.

We hope that once a person spends an year in a rehabilitation centre, he will be de-addicted. Thus, we can reduce the drug menace."

"It is also observed that due to lack of coordination between the Central agencies such as ED, NCB, CISF, Customs, DRI and the local police, drug peddlers are not seeing the end of justice. Currently, the need of the hour is that there should be an inter-agency cooperation amongst all the agencies and the local police to eradicate the menace of drugs once and for all. It's time to think strategically about ways in which law enforcement can attack major drug-trafficking gangs at their most vulnerable points.

The four recent seizures at RGIA totalling 14 kg heroin worth Rs. 125 crore from four Tanzanians, have all reached a dead end of investigation by the DRI. Unless the local State police gets into the investigation, the scourge may go on undetected," he opined

Anand stated, "the NCB figures of 8-10 crore drug addicts in India, a seven-time increase in drug supply in the last decade, the complicated sea, land and air network from the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle Areas are all quite disturbing. A more coordinated effort is required."