Expressing a serious concern about the adverse effects of narcotics, Karnataka State Legal Services Authority member-secretary H. Shashidhar Shetty has said that if youths of a nation are addicted to drugs, it will be a real destruction of such a nation.

“Drug addiction among youths can alone destroy any nation more than earthquakes, tsunamis and war,” he added.

He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a legal awareness and aid programme on drug abuse and the POCSO Act 2012 at Yadgir Institute of Medical Sciences (YIMS) in Yadgir on Tuesday.

“The production, sale and consumption of any kind of drugs is an offence according to law. The most worrying thing is that drugs are being produced and sold in the country unabatedly. In the early days, there were gangs which used to bring drugs from other countries and sell them here. Now, these gangs are actively operating the drug business everywhere by producing it themselves. The youths must be made aware of the adverse effects of consuming drugs,” he said.

“There is information about drugs being sold near educational institutions. The department concerned should work effectively and eradicate such illegal and anti-social activities from its roots,” he said.

District Principal and Sessions Judge H.J. Marulasiddaradhya, who presided over the programme, said that the POCSO Act is brought to protect the rights of children from sexual harassment.

He referred to the incident that was reported in the district in which a minor girl delivered a baby in a hostel toilet and said that such incidents are the real worries of society.

Assistant professor of YIMS Preetam and medical superintendent Santosh Kumar cautioned against drug sales in the district.

Senior Civil Judge and member-secretary of District Legal Services Authority Mariyappa and others were present.