PANJIM: Keeping with the State government’s commitment to zero tolerance to illegal drugs, as announced by the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on the International Day against Drug Abuse, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NRB) in Goa has planned a series of awareness activities amongst the student community, while also stepping up their monitoring efforts against the vice and illegal trafficking.
As part of the awareness campaign to curb the menace of drug use, they are holding competitions such as drawing, slogan writing as well as distribution of pamphlets etc among the students.
Superintendent of Police (SP), Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) Mahesh Gaonkar asserted that they are trying to counter the idea that it is cool to do drugs.
Gaonkar added they are also keeping an eye on people visiting Goa who may be in possession of drugs such as tourists or drug peddlers who sell these drugs.
He said that Goa being a tourist destination, there are many such tourists who bring drugs along with them.
He further expressed concern about a new drug that is trending, known as the party drug that is chemical generated in a lab. He said unlike the days gone by, now there are thousands of such drugs being created. Moreover, given the advancement in technology, he said the peddlers have developed sophisticated ways to transport these drugs, such as getting drugs in the form of concentrated drops, which upon being diluted, can be used to make 10 bottles of the drug. There is also the sale of drugs that’s done digitally, which is something that NRB across the country is studying.
He gave the examples of drugs being sold through the dark web (encrypted online content that does not appear on search engines) or through conventional social media platforms like Facebook, where the posts are disguised as normal posts, but the peddler can decrypt it and then use it to distribute drugs.
Speaking on ANC Goa, Gaonkar said its performance had improved over the last year.
He concluded with an appeal to the public to avoid drugs, which he said will take them nowhere but only lead to devastation.
