Those battling drug addiction in Jammu and Kashmir may have found an ally in Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi. In the last meeting of the group of ministers deliberating over the draft cabinet note of the National Drug Demand Reduction Policy, Gandhi said that people in the Valley addicted to drugs are averse to the idea of going to rehab because most addiction centres are attached to police stations. In a previous meeting, Gandhi had batted for the legalisation of marijuana.
The minister's view was that since these centres are attached to police stations, addicted individuals view going to rehab as a taboo of sorts. She asked union minister of social justice and empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot to look into the matter.
A study conducted by United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNIDCP) in 2008 revealed that over 70,000 people in J&K were addicted to drugs, including over 70% of its student community. The study also showed that over 4,000 of the addicts were women.
It was also learnt that in the same meeting, union law and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that, if needed, his ministry will look at ways of helping drug addiction online.
The meeting, supposed to be attended by over eight Cabinet ministers, however, saw the attendance of only a handful. The group of ministers is chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh and includes finance minister Arun Jaitley, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, law and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, health minister JP Nadda, apart from Maneka Gandhi and Thaawarchand Gehlot. However, those present included Rajnath Singh, Gandhi, Gehlot and Prasad.
