Visakhapatnam Collector directs officials to end drug menace among students

Visakhapatnam District Collector A Mallikarjuna has directed the officials concerned to step up the drive to check the use of drugs by the youth. Addressing a meeting on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances at the Collectorate, the collector directed the officials to conduct special drives at hostels, colleges, and hotels to check the use of narcotics by the youth. The menace should be put to an at once, he stressed.

Mallikarjuna also directed the college management in Visakhapatnam to conduct awareness programmes on their campuses and educate the students about the evil effects of consuming drugs. He affirmed that educational institutions must put efforts to keep students away from abuse. Underlining the need for counselling drug peddlers, the collector asked officials to divide those who indulge in the illegal activity zone-wise and counsel them to give up the clandestine operation.

Mallikarjuna stated that peddlers must be warned of being booked under the PD Act if they fail to stop their illicit activities. About the role of parents in ending the menace, the collector said they should keep an eye on the movements of their grown-up children. “Once the parents know that their son/daughter is addicted to drugs, they must immediately send them to de-addiction centres,” he stated.

Further, he directed the police personnel to verify the details of those who came forward to give surety in narcotics cases. Any information about narcotics should be passed on to the toll-free number 14500, he said. DCP Vidyasagar Naidu stated that meetings were conducted with GVMC and auto unions on the evil effects of narcotics. He pointed out that in most cases, ganja was being smuggled from Odisha through RTC buses.

Stay tuned to Yo! Vizag website and Instagram for more city news updates.