KOZHIKODE: Excise, Police and Drug Controldepartments have joined hands in the wake of school reopening on Monday to ensure a drug and tobacco-free academic year for students in the district.
Special inspections, awareness programmes will be organized and officials will be deployed in schools to check the distribution of drugs, sale and display of tobacco products.
The support and cooperation of students, teachers and parents is also sought to collect information on tobacco and drug abuse in schools. Education and food safety departments will also ensure the prevention of sale of tobacco products and drugs near school premises.
The Excise and Drug Control department officials, on Saturday had seized 5,000 chewing gums containing nicotine polacrilex from a shop in the city. "We will continue action against all those who sell psychotropic substances and drugs to school children in the coming days too," said assistant excise commissioner P K Suresh.
Anti-drug abuse clubs monitored by excise department are functional at 100 schools in the district and from Monday the excise department officials will take initiatives to revamp the clubs. In the 2013-14 academic year, the excise officials had succeeded in netting nearly 10 drug pushers with the information passed by the members of the anti-drug abuse clubs.
New members will be added to the club and awareness programmes will be conducted for them, said P K Suresh. "Our plan is to make parents and locals aware of the adverse effect of drug abuse with the support of kids," he added.
The city police, here are also set to take action against drug pushers and tobacco sellers after school reopening with the support and cooperation of students. School protection committees have been formed at schools and will be activated with school opening, said M N Vijayakumar, assistant commissioner of police (narcotic cell) Kozhikode City. Besides, students can also use drop boxes installed by the police at schools to pass information on all kinds of anti-social and criminal activities taking place in the premise of their schools, said the ACP.
The police have also decided to publicize the helpline1090 to enable parents and students to complain about drug and tobacco sale and other illegal activities taking place in the school premise.
"We will take action against all those who sell tobacco products near school premise under the cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of advertisement and regulation of Trade and Commerce,
Production, Supply and Distribution) Acts (COTPA) 2003. Besides, various sections in the Kerala police act will also be slapped against the offenders," said an official.
Any information on the sale or distribution of tobacco products could be passed to the Excise: 9447178063, Police: 9497990121.
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