Srinagar: Dozens of students here on Monday
held a rally against the increasing use of tobacco and
psychotropic drugs mostly among the teenagers in the Valley on
the World No-Tobacco Day.
Uniform-clad students, carrying placards and banners,
took out a march on the Residency Road, the commercial hub in
the heart of the city, before ending their rally at the
Mushtaq Enclave.
The students were shouting slogans against the use of
tobacco.
"We want to tell the people that cigarette smoking and
use of (psychotropic) drugs is not beneficial for their
health.
It causes cancer and endangers an entire generation," a
student from south Kashmir's Pampore town, Nasir Bashir, said.
The World Health Organisation observes the day on May
31 each year, highlighting health risks associated with
tobacco use and advocating policies to reduce consumption.
There has been a spurt in the number of drug abusers
throughout the Kashmir Valley, with people falling prey at an
early age.
Recently, police claimed to have cleared Awantipora
region in south Kashmir, infamous for its production of poppy
and cannabis crop.
More than two dozen major drug dealers and peddlers
have been arrested in the Awantipora region in the past one
year.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, May 31, 2011, 14:58