Mangalore : At an anti-drugs campaign held on February 8, Friday at the police guest house under the aegis of the district administration and the Mangalore city police, parents, principals and the police department decided to fight unitedly to tackle the drug menace.

Ramila Shekhar, noted counselor and faculty at Roshni Nilaya and Prof. Hilda Rayappan of Prajna Counseling Centre were the resource persons.

Ramila Shekhar speaking on the occasion, said children get addicted to drugs owing to family and social problems and urged parents not to hide the bad habits of the children, but try to bring them on the right path through counseling and such other means. Many a time the addiction starts at a very young age when children sniff rubbers and correction liquid and such other things, she added.
She said the drugs menace can be tackled when educational institutions, parents and police department join hands.

Hilda Rayappan said she had to deal with at least two drug addiction cases every week and added this explained the gravity of the situation. Mainly the lack of supervision of parents leads to drug addiction of students, she observed.

Sharada Vidyalaya Principal, while referring to  Sneha, the girl who was addicted to drugs and recently committed suicide, said the college was unaware of her addiction until she was hospitalized.

The principal also requested to close down the wine shop that has come up close to her institution.

N Prakash, DC who also spoke, urged for a pro-active role by parents and teachers and effective monitoring on their part.
City Police Commissioner Manish Kharbikar also spoke. Mutturaya, Dharmaiah, Deputy Commissioners of Police, KN Vijayaprakash, Chief Executive Officer of ZP and others were present.