Posted on Sunday, March 27, 2011 - 10:00 pm:

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Mumbai: Actor Abhishek Bachchan has appealed to the youth to stay away from drugs. "Taking drugs is the most uncool thing to do," he said, while flagging off an awareness run against drug abuse organised on Sunday morning by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) as a part of its silver jubilee celebration.

More than 300 National Cadet Corps cadets, volunteers from non-governmental organisations and civilians participated in the run. It was followed by an interactive session on drug abuse and the rise in cases of children using drugs.

The session saw a discussion on the steep rise in the use of whiteners as drugs among children in the last two to three years. It has been reported that whiteners are largely being used by school-going children as inhalers for intoxication. Many schools in the State have reported an increase in consumption of whiteners. What has added to the woes of the agencies is that whiteners are not covered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

A senior official told The Hindu that it was impossible to ban such substances. "People need to be sensitised on these issues. Especially the parents and the school authorities need to be informed about the use of whiteners."

"A few months ago, the Pune police issued a circular to stationery shop owners about the use of whitener as drug. The appealed to them to check sudden rises in its sale," he said.

During the interactive session, Dr. M.S. Menon, a medical consultant with experience in addiction management, said drugs impacted not only the individual but also society. "Drugs not only bring about undesirable physical changes, but they also make a person anti-social," he said.

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