'Centre drawing up first nat policy on Drug Demand Reduction'

Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot today said the Centre is in the process of finalising the first national policy on Drug Demand Reduction to curb the menace of drug abuse and trafficking in the country.
"We are in the process of finalising the first National Policy on Drug Demand Reduction, which involves the Government, Non-Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders," the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment said here.
Identifying that there was a demand and supply aspect to solve the problem, Gehlot said control of the supply side was handled by the Department of Revenue and the Ministry of Home Affairs at the national level and the law enforcement agencies at the state level, and the aspects of demand reduction were being handled by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

He said that India has a close proximity to two major opium cultivating areas - the Golden Crescent countries (Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan) and the Golden Triangle countries (Myanmar-Laos-Thailand), which makes it a region of transit as well as destination for illicit drugs.