Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore
Picture for representational purpose only
Mangalore, Aug 11: Enough attention does not seem to have been given to the indiscriminate use of drugs by student community put up in college campuses here. The teenagers, who stay away from families for getting education, and who for the first time in their life, get the liberty to spend the money sent by their parents as per their own discretion, become easy prey to drug peddlers. In the recent past, the presence of the drug abuse in the colleges here has become more apparent.
There are indications that drugs are being pushed by small time sellers in the college compounds, petty shops surrounding such compounds, important joints where students come together in the evenings. In addition, hotels, lodges etc, are also transforming into centres of drug abuse. The student community, which is swelling with each passing year in the city that is recognized as an educational hub of the state, has also been the biggest consumer of banned drugs including hemp (ganja).
An incident in which the PU student of a college here became victim of drug abuse and since recuperating in a hospital, hit the headlines recently after some organizations and the girl’s parents took up the issue. There are hundreds of cases in which the parents of the students concerned try to cover up the cases because of the fear of their prestige and standing in the society getting sullied, besides the prospects of their offspring getting doomed.
The fact that rich parents pay hefty donations to get their wards admitted into reputed institutions in the city, and then supply enough cash for their children to make merry, enables the students to divert the money for illegal activities. The local students, who become friends with these youth and start consuming drugs, also fall prey to this menace, local people complain.
A number of small groups have been trying to make quick bucks, disregarding the telling affect their actions cast on the lives of the youngsters. Although the police are believed to be having information on such persons, only small-time drug sellers like people with small quantities of hemp in their possession, get arrested once in a while. Such people get bail and besume the same business again. The policemen express helplessness by claiming that by the time they collect information and evidence, the drug operatives either go missing or are replaced by new ones.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime), Dharmaiah, says that the policemen have chalked out various strategies to control the drug menace including formation five police teams, deputation of plains clothed policemen to college campuses, etc. He says that the department has not been leaving any stone unturned to curbing the menace.
In spite of the fact that the drug trafficking is big business, all the arrests so far made by the policemen relate to miniscule quantities. Big fish continue to make merry. The fact that drugs are freely available to students speaks about the inefficiency of the policemen in demolishing the drug cartel. It is not impossible to rein in the drug abuse, if governing councils of the colleges take added interest in identifying the culprits and stopping drug abuse in their institutions, and in working in close association with the policemen. This can go a long way in brightening the future of students, who in spite of being brilliant, squander away their future for the lure of temporary ecstasy.
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