City police spread drug awareness among students, public

Mangalore, November 17: Problems in the families and lack of care for children drive many youth towards addiction, opined KMC Hospital Psychiatry department Associate professor Dr Keshav Pai.

Addressing students in a drug awareness programme organised by Mangalore City Police at S D M College of Business Management on Wednesday, he said that 85 per cent of family problems arise due to alcohol and drug usage.

“If you check the reason behind the domestic violence, most of them are due to alcohol consumption by head of the family (husbands),” he said. “A person who is addicted to drugs will always have a tendency to be unfaithful to his spouse and also suspicious about his spouse.” he added.

Stating that 25 per cent of the road accidents are occurring due to alcohol and other drugs' consumption, he said willpower of the addict and proper facilities such as de-addiction centers, awareness programmes etc is the only option to reduce this social evil.

Another resource person from the A J Hospital Forensic Medicine Department Head Dr Jayaprakash K spoke on different types of drugs and the factors which lead to drug addiction and the preventive measures to check this bad habit.

Students can play an important role in bringing down the number of drug addicts, he said and added: “If your friend is taking drugs, you should immediately inform their parents so that they can find a solution at the earliest. If you are not doing that, you are hiding away from your duty and responsibilities.” Drug addiction is not only spoiling the life of an individual, but also the society he is living in.

A joint effort by the people is required to put an end to drug abuse, he opined.

Mangalore North Inspector Vinay Gaonkar, S D M College of Business Management Principal Dr Devaraj were also present.

Police officials sitting on the dais had a tough time throughout the interactive session.

When a student asked the police officials, whether there is any rule against shops selling tobacco products near colleges, Inspector Vinay Gaonkar said that no shops can sell tobacco products within a limit of 100 yards of educational institutions.

When the student then asked why there is no action against the shops functioning near her college, the police officer smartly diverted the question to Principal saying that, not only Police, but educational institution heads can also take action against them.

However, the principal managed the show by saying that he would take action if he gets a complaint.

Soon afterwards, another student narrated an incident wherein the traffic police man refused to step in when she complained to him about a person who was smoking in a public place.

When the police officer replied vaguely saying that such complaints have 'technical problems,' the principal again came to the rescue of the police officer and said that if many students join hands, such incidents will never take place.