Info campaign against drugs begins from Mar 1

Senior Correspondent: The Information Ministry is going to start information campaign against drugs across the country from March 1.

State Minister for Information Tarana Halim told this to the reporters at Secretariat on Sunday.

She said, "The government strongly put emphasis to control drugs. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said many times that drugs must be removed from Bangladesh. Law enforcement agencies are also working to demolish drugs. We also can create social awareness against the curse through spreading information by the ministry."

"We can operate information campaign. Department of Narcotics Control and Home Minister will assist us. The slogan 'Love life, keep away from drugs' will be broadcast on all TVs and radios at 8:50pm from March 1. We also publish it on social media in future."

All media will join the campaign. The information campaign will be run widely in district and upazila levels as well, the State Minister said.

Tarana Halim also came up with a statistic of drug cases and accused. She revealed, "37,395 cases were filed over drugs and accused were 47, 403 in 2011. But in 2017, 1 lakh 6 thousand and 536 cases were filed in this connection while accused were 1 lakh, 32 thousand and 883."

"If we spread the information across the country including border areas, people will be aware that drug peddling and assisting the peddlers is an offensive crime," she added.

risingbd/Dhaka/February 25, 2018/Naymuddin/A K Azad