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| 'Don't demonise victims, rehabilitate them': SC says 'cool, fashionable' drug culture dangerous | | | Agencies
NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Observing drugs consumption in popular culture was propelling youngsters towards a dangerous lifestyle, one that incorrigibly applauded drugs use as "cool" and a "fashionable" display of camaraderie, the Supreme Court on Monday said the approach was not to demonise but to rehabilitate them.
A bench of Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh made the remark while pronouncing a judgment on the bail plea of a man accused in a case involving 500 kilogram of heroin smuggled from Pakistan to India.
"We implore the youth to take charge of their decisional autonomy and firmly resist peer pressure and desist from emulation of certain personalities who may be indulging in drugs," the bench said. The arc and web of drug trade cannot be permitted to corrode the shine of the youth of India, it noted further.
The apex court said the approach towards the victims of drug abuse must not be to demonise them but rehabilitation.
The top court was grieved to realise vulnerable children were turning to drugs as an escape from emotional distress and academic pressures or peer pressure and suggested not to consider drug abuse as taboo but engage in open discussions to tackle the issue.
"We would like to record our earnest disquiet about the proliferation of substance abuse in India. The ills of drug abuse seem to be shadowing the length and breadth of our country with the Central and every state government fighting against the menace of substance abuse," it said.
The debilitating impact of drug trade and drug abuse is an immediate and serious concern for India, it added. "As the globe grapples with the menace of escalating substance use disorders (SUD) and an ever accessible drug market, the consequences leave a generational imprint on public health and even national security," the bench said.
The apex court said it was state's responsibility to address the root causes of this predicament and develop effective intervention strategies to ensure that India's younger population, which was particularly vulnerable to substance abuse, was protected and saved from such menace.
"This is particularly because substance abuse is linked to social problems and can contribute to child maltreatment, spousal violence, and even property crime in a family," it said. |
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