In a fresh move, the government, in order to control alcohol consumption, has in the budget speech decided to levy heavy taxes and close down all shops and grocery stores that, in defiance of law, procure and sell alcohol. The government directive, to be implemented within 45 days, has laid down instructions to the respective VDCs, municipalities, sub-metropolitan and metropolitan cities to permit selling alcohol only in the designated areas. In addition, the directive also instructs shopkeepers not to sell alcohol to minors. If implemented on war footing, this initiative will likely prevent unscrupulous businessmen from building a nation enslaved on alcohol.

However, the government seems to have overlooked yet another appalling reality of our society. Youngsters, including school and college students, are increasingly falling prey to drug abuse. Though the government and the social service organisations have launched several anti-drugs campaigns, drug abuse, has gone unabated. The situation has now become so alarming that drug mafia, apart from turning students into drug addicts, have even managed to lure them into peddling drugs. Punishing drug addicts will hardly serve any purpose. The government must track down the real drug lords and bring them to book in order to bring drug abuse under control. Or else, it won’t be long before they turn our youngsters into a useless bunch of junkies.