Kohima, February 28 (MExN): As part of the national campaign towards a Drug Free India, ARK Foundation with the support and collaboration with the Kohima District Administration, district Social Welfare and Police Department organised a seminar on ‘Substance Use- Its Ill Effects and Treatment’ at the Police Reserve Camp, Phesama on February 27.
The programme was initiated as part of the Kohima Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, a press release informed on Sunday.
The keynote address was delivered by Inspector (SM) Akum who drew attention to the concerns posed by the menace of drug addiction in the country and the state of Nagaland. He urged the participants to get the best benefits out of the seminar.
The main speaker of the seminar, Ketho Angami, President, ARK (Access to Rights and Knowledge) Foundation shared the major concerns of substance abuse in the state and how it has affected the Naga society at large.
He laid emphasis on the threat of drug addiction to the young and vulnerable section of the society and said that there are significant numbers of drug users even today who need treatment as well as reports of new entry to the habit of drug use.
On the nature of substance use, he stated that addiction is a disease as declared by the American Medical Association and the WHO in the year 1956 and 1958 respectively. Towards this he remarked that treatment should be the approach towards helping the drug user, rather than looking at it as a criminal issue.
Further, he said that the various reasons why people use drugs is because of peer pressure, curiosity, easy availability etc., and when the peak period of addiction begins, it results in harms such as health, occupational, financial, spiritual, and legal harms.
He stressed on the need to work on primary prevention and also to provide opportunity for those who are already into the habit to seek treatment. He also urged the young upcoming police personnel to stay away from drugs including alcohol, as alcohol is also a drug of serious health and socio-economic implications. He also sought support from the police department to enforce the NDPS act 1985 of the Section 64A, which provides immunity from prosecution if the accused voluntarily seeks and complete treatment, rather than only penalising drug users as per section 27.
According to the release, a former user identified as Ilato shared his experience and struggles with drug addiction and advised all the youngsters of today’s generation including the police personnel to never experiment with any substances including alcohol, as it is a habit that is very easy to get into, but very difficult to get out of.
Following this, a round of open discussion and question session was held where queries on overdose, detoxification, and treatment were clarified, the release stated.
