AIIMS and the Centre are asked by the Supreme Court to formulate an action plan to help a country to save from the growing menace of drug abuse. Drug menace keeps on increasing in the society and it trapped school-going children as well.
The apex court hearing that was made on July 22 asked the AIIMS to structure a national action plan to curb the growing menace of drug abuse in the society, including by school-going children.
Centre informed the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud that the survey has already begun in March 2018 with the involvement of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
The Bench said we are expecting our orders should be followed by AIIMS and Union of India. 12 weeks of time was given to the Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh for completing the survey and the analysis of the report during the last Public Interest Litigation hearing in the 2nd week of the February 2018. The bench also clear that no extension will be given as the issue is serious and have “national importance”.
The AIIMS needs to work on to produce the national policy that can stop the rising drugs menace in society, besides this, AIIMS also need to plan the measures to educate people about the ill effects of substance abuse. Besides directing the creation of the action plan, the Supreme Court bench had also asked the government to run a nationwide survey to check the prevalence of drug abuse across the country.
Supreme Court is trying hard to instruct governments to take appropriate actions to stop drug abuse. SC asked both the Centre and states’ government to run awareness programs about the serious effects of the drug abuse and also directed the Centre to include the subject on harmful effects of using drugs in the school curriculum.
One of the Public Interest Litigation listed that Delhi alone has approximately one lakh street children addicted with substance abuse is reported and it is a major problem in this segment of the population.
A study report created by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights on drug abuse by kids proved that last year 100 percent of the children in conflict with the law were drug abusers, 95.5 percent of them staying in child-care institutions were on drugs and 93 percent of street children consumed narcotics.
Peer Pressure is one of the main cause to consume drugs as per the reports.
The NGO in its PIL, filed in 2014, had sought a direction to formulate a national action plan for children on drugs and substance abuse including all issues of identification, investigation, recovery, counseling and rehabilitation.
It had also sought the creation of model syllabus on ill-effects of drugs and substance abuse.
