Punjab Health Minister says,"Only 2% drug addicts in 10 districts of state"

Punjab govt downplays the scale of drug menace in the state, refuses to mention the name of districts and surveying agency

Pic courtesy: PTI

Amritsar: Maintaining that the ruling dispensation in Punjab is committed to tackle the drug menace, the BJP-SAD-led Government on Monday said a mere 1.8 percent of state`s population is addicted to drugs.

Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani claimed that a survey conducted in ten districts of Punjab revealed that only 1.8 percent of the population is addicted to drugs.

"We had conducted a survey in ten districts of Punjab. It shows that 1.8 percent of the population is addicted to drugs; we didn`t conduct the survey in all the 22 districts of the state," Jyani told the media here.

"The survey has pointed out that the addiction of drug takes place mainly because of the peer group and because of the youth who make it a way of business," he added.

The minister, however, didn`t mention the name of the districts and the organisation which conducted the survey.

Jyani, who came to a function on International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at the Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction centre here, said the Punjab Government is committed to make the state free from drug-addiction.

"The government is working for getting rid of the drug menace in the state.

We have taken several initiative of making Punjab a drug-free state," he added.

The drug menace in Punjab has become a new the topic of debate post the Censor Board`s decision to order massive cuts in the film Udta Punjab, which talked about drug trade, drugs and addiction in the state.