SHILLONG, May 14: Social Welfare Minister, Paul Lyngdoh said the state has some 2.5 lakh drug addicts.
Citing the latest official records, he said about 30,000 of these addicts are women.
“The situation is rather grim in the state considering that our total population is 35 lakh,” Lyngdoh told a section of reporters recently.
A majority of the addicts are injecting drugs, he said.
Lyngdoh said the government has identified 12 to 15 localities in Shillong where the incidents of the use of narcotics and injections are very high and these are linked to issues such as HIV.
He stressed the importance of the awareness of the civil society for tackling the major problem.
“Alcoholism is not our only problem. Drug addiction has become a more serious issue,” he said.
“We are sitting on top of a volcano. It is high time for the civil societies and religious institutions to step in,” he added.
Lyngdoh said he has asked the Union Minister for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar to set up of a state-run rehabilitation centre in Meghalaya.
Stating that the government will need a lot of support from the Centre to set up these rehabs, he said the state government plans four such centres.
Seeking a collective effort and cooperation of various departments to deal with the drug menace, he said the police and health departments are an important component in addressing this issue.
Lyngdoh said the government will revisit the rules to make them more stringent and put the responsibility on the person detained under the NDPS Act.
He said the process currently is so cumbersome and unfriendly that very few people come forward to lodge a complaint because they are summoned to the police station.
“Since the new government took over, the number of raids has increased by leaps and bounds. In my West Shillong constituency, we have daily raids and the results have been successful,” Lyngdoh said.
