Political parties focus on drug abuse in Mizoram
Mizoram faces a huge problem of drug abuse and an influx from Myanmar has made cheap drugs available in the bordering state, which is going to assembly polls on November 7.
In 2019, after its win, the Mizo National Front (MNF) government passed the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition Bill, 2019, prohibiting manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor. The MNF had promised to bring back the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act (MLTP), 1995, which was replaced in 2014 by Congress despite opposition from Church bodies and civil society groups.
The Congress was voted out of power in 2018. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his recent visit to Mizoram, said that drugs are spreading rampantly in the state and 259 young lives have been taken away by drug abuse.
He said, «Young people of Mizoram are not getting jobs so they are getting frustrated, turning to drugs. In the last five years, the MNF government has given only 2,000 jobs.»
BJP, in its manifesto, has promised it will also launch 'Operation Drug-Free Mizoram' to curb drug addiction among the youth of the state, if voted to power.
ZPM president Lalduhoma has also blamed the MNF for the state's high drug abuse cases.
Recently, the Assam Rifles arrested a Myanmar national and seized a huge cache of drugs, valued at ₹45 crore from his possession.
