We refer to the news ‘Marijuana plants seized’ (GDN, January 22) and wish to share our thoughts on the growing challenge of “drug addiction” we are facing in modern times.

Drug addiction has been an insurmountable problem to our societies. There are countries whose economies thrive mainly on drug trafficking and those involved in “drug trading” practically run the country.

Millions of families are reeling under untold miseries due to their children getting into the vicious circle of drug addicts. Many organisations and agencies are fighting with all their force to get these addicts out of their life-threatening drug habits.

Sending children to far away places for education, career, business, etc have become inevitable in the present day. Once out of the reach of parents and their kith and kin, the young can get easily swayed into destructive activities like drinking, smoking, taking drugs, etc. These habits practically ruin the precious lives of youngsters and they tend to become very serious social problems.

Very promising youths, who otherwise would have led decent and excellent lives, have lost themselves by becoming slaves of addiction. Social disorder, violence, crimes and broken family ties are significant consequences of their addiction.

Parents and elders these days should have a close watch on the children and ensure that they do not fall prey to “the hungry habits of drugs”. Any abnormal behaviour of the children / youths must be checked in time to take corrective steps at a very early stage of their addiction to undesirable activities including using drugs.

In many instances the parents themselves are the root cause of their children taking to wrong habits, as they carelessly smoke, drink alcohol, etc in front of their children. This encourages the children to accept these habits as normal, thus digging their own graves. Hostels, schools and colleges are the most viable places where children and the young can easily fall victims to drug and other addictions. Those in charge of these institutions like teachers, lecturers, professors and administrators can play a very significant role in preventing drug addiction by their vigilance and, where necessary, by their prompt counselling.

All efforts to make the young aware of the undesirable and harmful effects of drugs must be taken. Once the young become conscious of the real harm of theses habits, they will never allow themselves to become addicts.

There has been a significant effect of curtailing smoking and tobacco chewing among school and college students as also the general public in India, as many state governments enacted laws to curb smoking in public places and totally banned sale of tobacco-based products in shops.

The media like the TV , films, etc can surely help fight the drug menace by not exhibiting scenes glorifying drug habits and also by propagating the ill-effects. The real wealth of any nation is the good physical and mental health of its citizens especially its young.

Drugs and other intoxicants are the worst social enemies which totally damage the lives of addicts causing social misery in the country besides being primarily responsible for spurring criminal activities. Let us all join hands in fighting against all negative habits including drug addiction.
Let the rulers and government of Bahrain initiate strong steps to drive away the drug menace from its soil and support people in their efforts to keep Bahrain a “drug free” country.
Chandra Madhavan