For past some years this monster of a problem has consumed many lives, and ruined families all across the valley. A place that knew not what the stuff called drugs was, for one or the other reasons, fell headlong into this problem. Initially we denied.
Then we dithered to accept it. Sometime later came the stage of qualified acceptance. An now here we are: drug abuse is a fact of our life. Every second day we hear about young boys falling prey to this menace. We are now crying to save our new generation from this evil, but it seems to go deeper into the societal recesses. Parents are now afraid of sending their children outside homes, but that is no solution to the problem. The administration is doing its bit and now it has once again asked the religious leaders at different levels of our society to come forward and play an active role to curb this menace.
It is true that this segment of our society has a role in sensitising youth about this problem, and in creating an awareness at a mass scale. It is true that a timely counselling can save many lives from falling into this bottomless pit. But this is not all. The administration knows this and so do the preachers and Imams. This section makes only one layer of defence against the incursions of the evil called drug abuse. There are many more. The point is that unless all the tiers are active and effective, a single line of defence cannot do much.
So the involvement of religious leaders should be an ingredient of a larger and comprehensive policy. The first and the foremost is the legal and punitive barrier. If our police and other legal institutions actively hunt the culprits it can cut the problem to size.
Next comes economy. If we create more opportunities for earning, and make our education oriented towards generating jobs, it can save thousands of youth form going astray. Besides these two things, we need to activate our teachers and parents to keep a vigil, and sensitise young souls about the dangers of drug and substance abuse.