GUWAHATI, June 8 � Drug peddlers operating in the North East region have set educational institutions, especially schools as the prime target areas for their business, a fact that law enforcing agencies claimed to have acquired after making a detail assessment of the racket.
A source closely associated with the Assam Police�s narcotic cell has claimed that schools located in and around Guwahati have always been a target area for the drug peddlers but of late reports of an intensified effort to reach out to the teenagers has been noticed.
�Even during the questioning of a few such peddlers, it was found that students of many city-based schools, mostly belonging to well off families, are exposed to drugs at an early age, most of the time at a very low price,� said the source.
�The price of the drugs goes up once they become addicted to the substance and the students resort to unfair means to meet their demands,� the source pointed out.
The source, however, was not in the favour of naming the educational institutes saying that the matter would be discussed with the school authority, as and when necessary.
�In fact, more than the school authority the onus lies on the parents to ensure that their wards do not fall prey to such abuse,� the source stated, adding that drug abuse among the teenagers is on the rise.
An Assam Police official, when asked, opined that the police as well as the non-government organizations must put in a concerted effort to tackle this menace.
