The Hindu

• 16 cases have been booked in the first quarter this year 
• The issue of drug peddling was discussed at the quarterly review meeting of the Karnataka Development Programme

Mangalore, Apr 23: The Dakshina Kannada police are making concerted efforts to curb drug peddling in the district. This is evident from the cases registered in the first quarter under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. While 16 cases were registered under the Act in 2005, the police have registered as many cases in the first quarter alone this year.

The police had registered three cases under the Act during the first quarter (January to March) last year. They are also confronted by the increasing abuse of addictive prohibited drugs such as cough syrups and pain relievers. The issue of drug peddling, particularly of ganja, was discussed at the recently held quarterly review meeting of the Karnataka Development Programme chaired by the Minister for Horticulture, Endowment, Fisheries and district in-charge B Nagaraj Shetty.

The routing of drugs, primarily ganja, to schoolchildren and college students through petty shops was brought up. N Yogish Bhat and K Abhayachandra Jain, MLAs, expressed concern over this trend. They said students receive a steady supply of drugs from petty shops located outside educational institutions, they added. B Dayananda, Superintendent of Police, said such incidents have come down through better law enforcement.

"While jurisdictional police keep a close watch on regular drug peddlers, the Narcotics Drugs Cell under the Corps of Detectives work in tandem with us. The number of cases booked in the first quarter speaks for itself," he added.