Jalandhar: “Like youths in the state, Punjabi youths settled abroad too are addicted to drugs, claimed Satnam Chahal, executive director of the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA).

While speaking to The Tribune during his current visit to India, Chahal said the major reason behind youths addicted to drugs in Punjab was the NRI factor.

“A majority of the youths wanted to go abroad due to unemployment and deteriorating law and order situation in the state. For this, they require huge amount of money and hence gets lured by the world of drugs. Sometimes it is some NRIs who lure them into drug peddling,” said Chahal.

He said when they reach foreign shores, they continue to be a part of the deadly trade.

“Though it is a sad fact, in reality the network of drugs has spread all across the world and Punjab is indeed the centre of the international drug nexus due to its close proximity with Pakistan and Afghanistan,” said Chahal, who had recently written a book on the drug addiction issue in the state.

When asked how was your experience while writing the book, he said: “I was shocked to see that some of the NRIs too are getting treated at a drug de-addiction centre in Kapurthala and other places. While an NRI was getting treated without informing his family back home in Australia, he also stated that he had sold both his restaurants after falling into the trap of drugs,” said Chahal.

Another UK-based NRI too was found to be getting treated for drugs at a de-addiction centre in Jalandhar. However, Chahal said unlike people in Punjab, families in the US were more vigilant for their kids to keep them away from drugs.

“We have started keeping a strict vigil on our children and even on grown-ups to keep them away from the reach of drugs. Many of my friends are not allowing their children to be in toilets for over 10 minutes and even keep a check on their daily behaviour,” the NRI said.

When asked if the US Government is taking any measures to curb the menace Chahal said: “As a community, we cannot approach the government directly and inform them about the rising number of drug addicts in our community. This will bring a bad name to the Indian diaspora. But we as NGOs are taking utmost care to uproot the menace from inside.”

He added that recently the Houston chapter of NAPA has started holding awareness camps for the Indian community there.

The Tribune, July 15, 2017