By Nayak Paudel
Kathmandu, June 26: In an effort to bring down the cases of drug abuse in the country, authorities have planned to focus on awareness-raising programmes, mostly among children, teenagers and youths. Nepal Police launched a three-day awareness programme from Wednesday to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking that falls on June 26. They said they would give continuity to such programmes in a bid to keep mostly children and youths away from drug addiction.
Health experts have commended the move saying that proper awareness on the matter can motivate young people to develop right habits from the early age and stay away from the bad ones.
“Children, by nature, are curious and love trying new things and fall prey to drug addiction for lack of awareness. Abuse of hard drugs from early age affects their health and future,” said Dr. Basudev Karki, a consultant psychiatrist.
A report prepared by the Narcotics Drug Control Section (NDCS) under the Ministry of Home Affairs shows that the minimum age of the first intake of hard drug in Nepal is 10 years and that of drug user 13 years. Of all the reasons for drug intake, peer pressure topped the list followed by curiosity, family and study problems.
“We have busted a number of smuggling rackets, arrested many, and seized and destroyed large quantities of drugs over the years. However, the drug abuse cases are still on the rise and the reason behind it is misconceptions among children and youth,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and spokesperson for Nepal Police Basanta Bahadur Kunwar.
Until June 14 of the current fiscal year 2020/21, Nepal Police arrested 4,191 individuals for possessing cannabis, hashish, opium, cocaine, heroin, amphetamine and ephedrine. Thousands of tablets, ampules and bottles of several pharmaceutical drugs have also been seized during the period.
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), a special bureau of Nepal Police for drugs-related cases, has been working since 1992 and was upgraded in 2012.
“Over the years, we have noticed involvement of new persons in drug smuggling despite arrests of many. The reason for it is the rising demand and high profit,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Rishi Ram Kandel, spokesperson for NCB.
“Our target is to save people from drug abuse as it is hazardous. We arrest smugglers for the same cause, but it has not yielded desired results. This is why we are now focussing on making children and youths aware about the harms of drug abuse,” said SP Kandel.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed the Nepal Police to conduct awareness-raising programmes in schools and communities and asked for coordination from other concerned stakeholders.
“Nepal Police personnel reach a school only a couple of times in a year and give their best but still children cannot be made aware properly in an hour or two. The education materials which teach children to say no to drugs should be included in their curriculum,” said Jay Narayan Acharya, joint-secretary at the NDCS.
The police, however, acknowledge that they have not been able to conduct the awareness programme effectively in recent times.
“We will use virtual mediums to generate awareness for now, and once the schools resume, we will start meeting children there with quality awareness materials,” said SP Kandel.
The Nepal Police Mirror 2020 states that 7,970 awareness programmes were conducted during that year in schools across the country on drug abuse, cybercrime, road safety and basic securities. In 2019, Nepal Police had reached 1,210 schools with campaigns against drug abuse and alcohol consumption.
Nevertheless, that does not seem to suffice. Experts have urged law enforcement agencies to make aware teachers, parents and community members about drug abuse, as well as about their role in preventing people from choosing the wrong path of drug abuse.
We will continue to prevent drug smugglings and conduct awareness programmes for people of all age groups throughout the country, said SSP Kunwar. We will also raise awareness on cybercrime, violence against women and children, superstition, caste-based discrimination and dowry system, among others, he added.