Mangaluru: Inaugurating a conclave of principals of educational institutions on drug abuse, Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police (SP) B G Borase opined, “Any form of addiction is a sign of weakness”.
“What starts due to peer pressure during student life becomes destructive”, he said and advised students to use the peer pressure to excel in the field of academics and sports.

Cocaine, an expensive drug being synthesised to reach larger section of society and the educational hub Mangaluru becoming “Udta Punjab” is a matter of grave concern, SP Borase noted.

Talking of symptoms, SP Borase said dark circles appear around the eyes, missing classes becomes routine and pleading for money on daily basis, a habit, he explained.

Some Manipal college students have not come out of the educational institution for over 10-15 years because of their association with drugs which is a tragic development, SP said.

Appreciating the initiative of Yenepoya Group in creating awareness by taking the responsibility in tandem with the police department, SP Borase warned drug peddlers of serious action. “In future consumers too will be booked, a shift from the past in dealing with drug menace”, SP Borase added.

Drug users should not be viewed with suspicion, instead they should be giving an opportunity to improve through counselling, failing which they will end up facing punishment’, SP Borase stated taking a humane stance.

“Our law enforcement agencies are soft on drug abuse compared to many other nations in the world”, Registrar of St. Aloysius College, Dr. A M Narahari opined  looking at cases outside the ambit of Indian law. He lauded the efforts of  Abdullah Kunhi, Chancellor of Yenepoya University for his initiative to eliminate drugs from college campuses through Yenepoya Narcotics Educational Foundation of India.

At the same time, he called upon institutions to start an HRD cell to address the issue and frame policies to fight drugs. Rehabilitation too should be incorporated in the structure, he suggested.

Welcoming the gathering, G Sreekumar Menon, Registrar of Yenepoya University, termed drug addiction a universal problem and said Yenepoya was the first university in India to launch the initiative to combat drug addiction among students in colleges.

On behalf of Yenepoya Institutions, a memento was presented to SP B G Borase, by Abdullah Kunhi, Chancellor of Yenepoya University.