Caution against drug abuse, alcoholism

Crime rate in State attributed to substance abuse

Drug abuse and alcoholism as well as the easy availability of liquor will have far-reaching social consequences in the State, V.M. Sudheeran, senior Congress leader, has said. He was inaugurating an awareness programme against drug abuse and alcoholism at the Musaliyar College of Engineering at Malayalappuzha, near here, on Thursday.

The average liquor consumption in Kerala has been put at 37% against the national average of 23.1%. The use of liquor among the youth and women too was found to be on the rise in Kerala he said.

Liquor outlets

Mr. Sudheeran said Kerala was not behind even in the availability of liquor. The number of liquor outlets in the State had gone up considerably from 29 in 2009 to 562 in 2017, besides 365 beer-and-wine parlours, he said.

Though the State used to get a handsome revenue by way of liquor sales, it was nothing compared to the social cost incurred owing to the ever-growing menace of alcoholism, he said. Mr. Sudheeran alleged that drug abuse and alcoholism had left the State at the top among various other States in terms of crime and atrocities against women and children.

G. Jayadev, District Police Chief, presided. P.B. Noohu, District Collector; P.I. Sheriff Mohammed, college manager; A.S. Abdul Rasheed, Principal; and Sarath Raj and L. Lijesh, teachers, also spoke.

As many as 300 students from various schools and colleges took part.