Drug menace vexes Meira Paibis

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 10 : Many Meira Paibi leaders have  expressed their worries over the ceaseless drug trade in Manipur as it exposes even young students to substance abuse.
They also claimed that the State will disappear even though the State Government has been taking strong measures against illicit drug trafficking if the parents don't  intervene to keep away their children from the tendency to abuse intoxicating substances.
Though womenfolk gathering in a shed at night to   control drug abuse and anti-social activities have become a rare sight in contemporary Manipur, The Sangai Express came across a number of women assembling at Phumlou Mamang Leikai with torches  in their hands.
Speaking to The Sangai Express, All Phumlou Meira Paibi (APMP) secretary Ahanthem (ongbi) Sunita Leima said that they have been gathering every night to prevent the youth from abusing drugs  in their area as there is no sign of any decline in smuggling and peddling of drugs in the State.
Continuing that mothers of the State are distressed by the continuous seizure of drugs from different places, Sunita claimed that the State will sink together if "we don't stop substance abuse by the youth who are considered to be the pillars of the society."
She further stated the women in Manipur have been known for their valor and active involvement in many social, economic, political and cultural activities.
The Sangai Express also interacted with the Porei Leimarol Apunba Meira Paibi president Longjam Memchoubi Leima.
She claimed that the State  has been converted into a hub of drugs by some immoral people for personal benefits by smuggling drugs from other countries and investing in poppy plantations and the same has distressed every  mother.
Continuing that the State Government hasn't been able to arrest any kingpin despite seizing drugs from  different parts of the State almost everyday, Memchoubi claimed that the rate of awarding serious punishment to drug dealers in Manipur is also very low.
Maintaining that there are many students as young as those who are in just Class VII or VIII who abuse drugs due to easy availability of narcotic and psychotropic substances, Memchoubi said that these drug smugglers and kingpins are robbing the future of many students.
Saying that every parent should monitor the behaviour of their wards carefully so as to prevent them from becoming a drug addict, the Meira Paibi leader  claimed that the rate of substance abuse seems to be only increasing over the passage of time.
"It's good that the State Government launched a War on Drugs campaign to save the State from drug menace but it alone cannot curb drug trafficking and substance abuse," she reasoned and added that a collective effort is required to root out drug menace.
Abusing drugs also causes infertility and as such it is a serious problem, she added.
Nupi Samaj president Thokchom Ramani Leima  said that women in Manipur have been fighting against social ills such as AFSPA and drug abuse since the last many decades.
Claiming that drug addicts have a lesser chance of   contributing to Nation building, she also said that the youth in large numbers taking drugs is a loss for the society.
"It is time to renew the Meira Paibi movement so as to save our future and end drug menace," she said and added that people who take drugs can do unimaginable things such as homicide and defiling of even young children.
She remarked that there is no meaning of declaring Manipur as a dry State as liquor is widely available in Manipur.
The situation in Manipur could have been otherwise had the successive Governments took serious note of the drug problems besieging the State, she added.