Karnataka govt has waged a war on drug menace: Bommai

Bengaluru: Karnataka government has declared a war on drugs, with the rise in the number of related cases, state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Tuesday.

The government has taken it as a challenge with zero tolerance against drugs and is committed to fighting it, he said.

“This is a social menace that is prevalent at the state and national levels, especially concentrated around education institutions in metropolitan cities,” he said.

“I want to tell the people of the state that we have declared a war on drugs and it needs to be tackled using various means,” Bommai said.

Responding to a question from K J George (Congress) in the assembly, he said drug menace needed to be tackled, we need to break its backbone, and it is a very hard approach we need to take.”

We have booked 1,652 cases in the state in 2019, this is a rise by 600 cases in two years, this shows the trend, Bommai said, adding that several educational and control measures are being put in place by the government.

Raising the issue of drug menace during the question hour, George, himself a former Home Minister, stressed the need to strengthen intelligence to fight against it, as he pointed out that there are some black sheep in the police department supporting such drug-related activities.

He said other than action against users and peddlers, there was need to find out its source, as the drugs come from other states and countries.

“Coronavirus may come and go, but this is a permanent virus,” he said.

Stating that these days drugs were sold and purchased at the international- level using the internet, the Minister said the state police have been able to break the dark web used for such illegal activities, and CCB have made several arrests in this regard.

Also expressing concern over the increase in synthetic drugs, Bommai said they are available in different forms like chocolates, biscuits at educational institutions, hostels and beeda shops, and efforts are on to crack down on them.

He said the government would organise in April a mega campaign War against drug and awareness would be created, and called on parents, teachers, educational institutions, and society at large to join hands in fighting the menace.

Another Congress legislator N A Harris stressed on an effective legislation or change in laws to fight the menace.

Agreeing to it, Bommai said, “According to Narcotic Drugsand Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985we have been taking action, but it needs to strengthened and new sections need to be added, and we will do it.”

He also said the government has opened Cyber Crime, Economic Offences & Narcotics (CEN) police stations for effective control, and this year the Chief Minister has opened eight CEN police stations in Bengaluru and at all district headquarters.