Hyderabad: Campaign rolled out to sensitise youth against drug abuse

Hyderabad: In an effort to make students aware on how vulnerable they are to drug abuse and to encourage them to not get addicted to such substances, a city-based NGO Sakina Foundation has started a campaign named 'wage war against drugs' in the educational institutions.

This awareness campaign intends to educate students about the deadly effects of drug addiction as they are the root cause of most crimes and evils in the society.

Asif Hussain Sohail of Sakina Foundation said, "As in recent days, we have seen a lot of children getting addicted to drugs and involved in illegal activities, Sakina Foundation has started a campaign to spread awareness among children about the life threats caused due to consuming alcohol. The major reason for children consuming drugs in a tender age is that parents and teachers never interact with children regarding the life threats caused by consuming drugs. They never check their bags and there is no organised and sustained programme which focuses on the primary prevention and drug demand reduction. Parents and teachers do not know what to do when they find a child consuming drugs. Hence through our campaign, students and teachers will be made aware of the methods on how to reduce drug consumption among children."

Our main motto is to free Indian children from drug addiction. This awareness campaign started during the end of June and till date we have visited around 60 schools and 25 colleges. Our volunteers are visiting various schools and also requesting the principals and teaching staff to keep a check on the student's behavior and conduct workshops where doctors and counselors are counsel children. If the school finds any child having any issue then we will try to the help them and also provide treatment with substance-use disorders. We have also planned to start essay writing and painting regarding drug abuse, added Asif.