Hundreds
of women and schoolchildren from different parts
of Kokrajhar town participated in a rally on drug
and alcohol abuse today. Carrying placards and
shouting slogans on the ill effects of substance
abuse, they marched through the streets of Kokrajhar.
The rally was held at the basic training centre,
Kokrajhar, and was organised by the excise department
in association with All Bodo Women Welfare Association
and Discovery Club. A debate was held later followed
by a discussion on the issue. Drug abuse, cigarette
smoking, ganja intake, gutka chewing and inhaling
adhesive substances like Dendrite is on the rise
among school and college students worldwide. The
BTC areas, Gossiagaon, Fakiragram and Dotma are
no exception. It not only has led to an alarming
droupout rate but ruined several families and
lives. Expressing her concern, the president of
Kokrajhar district committee of the All Bodo Women
Welfare Association, Nilima Basumatary, said,
"The consumption of drugs by the youths needs
to be checked." The parents and teachers
together need to fight this social evil, she said.
"Though cigarettes and gutkas are being sold
in shops in front of schools, the administration
is indifferent to this. Besides ganja, other drugs
are also being sold in many shops in and around
Kokrajhar and the buyers are mostly the teenagers,"
a resident of the town said. Dendrite was banned
in Kokrajhar for a brief period after youths were
found inhaling it. The addicts also use shoe-polish
to get a high. Alcohol consumption in eateries
is a regular phenomenon and police have failed
to crack down on the offenders.
|