SHILLONG: The alarming rise in substance abuse among children and youths is a cause of concern for police.
Children aged between 15 and 25 years are found sniffing dendrite and other such substances.
Police on Wednesday admitted that the consumers of drugs have increased with the suppliers finding Shillong as a conducive market for them considering the presence of large number of students from the North-East studying in Shillong.
The over dose of drugs has also resulted in many taking recourse to satanic worship and other anti-social activities.
The East Khasi Hills police chief M. Kharkrang told reporters on Wednesday that the students are becoming the targets of the drug suppliers.
Police also link the spurt in the use of drugs to the rise to in cases of theft. What’s more, these young addicts are often compelled into committing petty thefts in order to finance their next “fix”.
There were a series of cases of snatching of gold chains in parts of the city and the police say that the addicted drug users, who are in need of money to buy drugs, are resorting to this.