The drug menace
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 08 2011 -

Manipur has been waging a long drawn battle against drugs use for more than three decades now. Around the late 1970s, the then youth of the state began their tryst with heroin, popularly known locally as No. 4.

By the year 1982, they began injecting this drug with catastrophic consequences. Being addicted to a powerful drug like heroin had its extremely negative consequences not only for the individual but for the society at large.

In the prime of youth, the most active period of a person's life which should have been brimming with dreams and aspiration, waiting for the latent talent to blossom, a number of our youth turned into living death, lost in their world of drug induced ecstasy.

For the society, beyond losing the contribution of some of the most energetic members, it had to face the added problem of this addiction which included various crimes.

Over the years the problem of this addition would assume catastrophic proportion. In the year 1989, the first case of HIV infection was detected in Manipur which was official acknowledged in 1990.

Those who had bee injecting heroin during this intervening period they had no idea that sharing the syringe with other drug users would lead to infection with HIV. A whole generation of the state was lost as a consequence.

Easy availability, among many other factors, is the most important reason responsible for drug addition in the state.

With Manipur situated close to the so called 'golden triangle', an area covering around 367,000 square miles (950,000 km) encompassing Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, it became one of the routes through which heroin is smuggled into the country.

Being a highly profitable business, the smuggling of drugs is controlled and patronized by some of the most powerful individuals and groups and consequently it has not been easy to put a a cap on it.

But what is even more worrying for us is the fact that large tracts of land in the state has come under poppy cultivation and that heroin is also being manufactured in the state.

Many areas which used to be under ganja cultivation have now come under heroin cultivation as it is the more profitable of the two.

The Narcotics Control Bureau, Imphal unit recently claimed to have destroyed poppy cultivation covering a total area of around 904 hectares in a bid to eradicate the production of heroin in the state.

This is a step in the right direction and should be followed up rigorously in the coming years so that no new area comes under poppy cultivation. Along with this, it is important to wean away these cultivators from poppy by giving them incentives to take up other cultivations.

The agriculture department and the horticulture department can play a significant role in this exercise. The government can even think of special packages for those who give up poppy cultivation while taking stringent action against those who persist with it.

Fighting drug abuse and addiction is a complex issue and needs the commitment and cooperation of not just government agencies and NGOs who are specially working in this field but also the involvement of society at large.

For, it requires not just choking the flow of drugs but also taking care of the demand side. There is absolute necessity to ensure that no more young people of this state falls victim to drug abuse.

Here, the role of education, of schools and colleges is very important as also the general atmosphere at home. Parents specially, need to be in constant communication with their children so as to find out their needs and aspirations.

Enough avenues should be made available to them so that they are able to channelize their energy in ways which enhances their physical and mental growth.

Drugs should never figure among the options for a young man of the state.