Killer puff

June 26: When your gangly teenaged son suddenly takes to smelling boot-polish, it’s a cause for worry.

For the round tin box may just contain the first signs of more destructive and expensive addictions.

That’s what a group of concerned policemen tried to explain to parents at a seminar in Kokrajhar today, pleading that the most stubborn drug habits grow in the privacy of the bathroom or the bedroom.

By the time parents realise why their child has been keeping to his room for most part of the day, it’s already too late.

Today’s seminar was one of the attempts to remind Kokrajhar residents that despite all efforts, the incidence of drug abuse among youths in the district was on the rise and there were no signs of a reversal of the trend.

The superintendent of police, A. Kalita, said combating this surge has become a major challenge and everyone needed to join hands and weed out the malady that is destroying careers and ruining lives.

Cigarettes are the most common culprits, followed by ganja and gutkha. When nothing else is available, a dab of Dendrite or shoe-polish is the short-cut to a high.

Even smaller towns like Gossaigaon, Fakiragram and Dotma are slowly waking up to the menace.

“I urge everybody to inform the police if anyone is seen or found indulging in drugs. Together we can make a difference. All the responsible citizens, including guardians, teachers and the elderly population need to work together to fight this social evil to ensure a better tomorrow,” Kalita said.

There are pockets in and around Kokrajhar town where the addicts assemble every evening to inhale the banned substance.

Several organisations have protested against the sale of cigarettes in front of educational institutions in Kokrajhar, but to no avail.

“Drug abuse among the youths is increasing at an alarming rate and needs to be checked. The trend is not only affecting society, but pushing up the number of school dropouts in Kokrajhar and its surrounding areas,” a parent whose teenage son is a drug addict, said.

“Though cigarettes and gutkhas are being sold openly in shops in front of many schools, the administrationremains a mute spectator. Besides ganja, other drugs are also sold openly in many shops in and around Kokrajhar town and the customers are mostly the teenagers,” said another.

The police are keeping a close watch on some medicine shops that had been allegedly selling drugs, a police officer said.

The sale of Dendrite was also banned in Kokrajhar for a brief while. But the addicts quickly took to inhaling shoe-polish instead.