Karimnagar: District prohibition and excise department officials have launched an innovative campaign to educate the people especially illiterates against the consumption of ganja and drugs. Since the state government was making serious efforts to eradicate menace of ganja and drugs from the state and declare Telangana as a drug free state, district excise officials have begun their efforts to educate the people through different methods.
Instead of merely arranging posters along with catchy slogans asking the people to stay away from drugs, excise officials have prepared flexies with photos explaining advantages and disadvantages of ganja and drugs. Since a majority of ganja addicts in the district are illiterates, the officials have come up with photo feature idea. The flexie is divided into two parts. In the first part, it is explained how the ganja and drug addicted people would face troubles in their lives. In the second part, it is also explained how people could reach higher positions and lead happy lives if they stay away from drugs.
Task force wing of district prohibition and excise has arranged a flexie at the entry point of the district headquarters bus stand and planning to set up more flexies at sensitive and mass gathering areas such as Shanivaram market, Durgammagadda, Kharkhanagadda, Subashnagar, Godamgadda, Shanthinagar, Eye hospital, Rekurthy, Vijayapuri colony and others.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Excise Task Force CI V Chandramohan said that to educate the common people and illiterates about the consequences of ganja, they prepared photo future flexies. They were also planning to educate people by organizing programmes through cultural troops at sensitive and mass gathering areas, he informed. Though consumption of ganja and drugs is less in Karimnagar when compared to other districts, district excise officials are putting serious efforts to zero in the ganja.
Excise department sources said that some of the youths, students, and labourers were addicted for ganja. Though there was no established network to transport ganja to the district, it is being brought to the district from Maharastra, Hyderabad and Warangal. Some of the fruit and vegetable traders, who frequently visit Nagpur of Maharastra, were bringing ganja to the district. They are able to transport ganja easily without any hurdles since vegetable vehicles would not be checked thoroughly at check posts, the source said.
According to excise department statistics, nine ganja cases were registered during the last two years. 13.6 kilograms of ganja was seized from 17 persons and six vehicles were seized from them.
