Drug abuse awareness events held in districts; students write letters to parents appealing to them to give up alcoholism, tobacco, substance abuse

Nursing students taking the anti-drug pledge at Government Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital on Tuesday.

| Photo Credit: N. RAJESH

The drug abuse awareness events were organised in the districts on Tuesday after Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay administered the awareness pledge through videoconferencing as part of the ‘drug-free Tamil Nadu’ mission.In a function organised in a private engineering college near Tirunelveli, District Collector Anand Mohan and Superintendent of Police Vishwesh Balasubramaniam Shastri participated.The Collector and the SP appealed to the students to keep themselves away from tobacco, drugs and alcohol, which should not be tried playfully even once or at the instance of friends. “It will land you in stress, depression and tension all the time and will never allow you to excel in your career by destroying your analytical skills and critical thinking,” they cautioned.They also disbursed prizes to the winners of various competitions and sports events organised as part of anti-drug awareness campaign.The Department of School Education organised special events in the schools, in which the students were encouraged to write letters appealing to their alcoholic and drug-addicted parents or relatives to give up this evil habit.“Over 2.80 lakh students from 1,485 government, government-aided and private schools participated. Over 25,000 students, narrating heart-wrenching incidents of their life, wrote letters to their parents and their relatives, appealing to them to liberate themselves from alcohol, drugs and tobacco,” said Chief Educational Officer M. Sivakumar, who designed this event.Mr. Anand Mohan, who visited the Munneerpallam Government Higher Secondary School even as the students were writing the letters, assured the students of all possible help and medical assistance to rehabilitate their parents and the relatives from the clutches of alcohol, drugs and tobacco.“This assurance is not merely for the students of this school alone. It is for all the students of Tirunelveli district as we’re ready to help you to get rid off this evil habit. We’ll rehabilitate you and be with you to extend all possible help,” Mr. Anand Mohan said.On the instructions of Commissioner of Police, Tirunelveli City, Deshmukh Shekhar Sanjay, the 3,904 kg of banned tobacco products seized by the Tirunelveli City police on different occasions were buried in the Tirunelveli Corproation’s Ramaiyanpatti garbage yard.Deputy Inspector General of Police, Tirunelveli Range, Thirunavukkarasu, administered the pledge to the police constables in an event organised at Armed Reserve Police camp. He launched the website www.warriorsofwellbeing.com, an awareness website against drug abuse.He also inspected the incineration of 3,500 kg of ganja seized in the southern districts in a private facility near Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district.Mr. Vishwesh Balasubramaniam Shastri flagged off the drug abuse awareness marathon at Gangaikondan and honoured the participants.Registrar (In-Charge) of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Annadurai, administered drug abuse awareness pledge to the staff and the students.Tenkasi District Collector Ranjeet Singh, Superintendent of Police S. Ashok Kumar and Sub-Collector, Tenkasi, Vaishnavi Paul administered anti-drug abuse pledge to the students of a private engineering college in Aayikudi and honoured the winners of various competitions organised as part of this week-long event.Kanniyakumari District Collector M. Prathap and Superintendent of Police Stalin administered the pledge to the students of a private engineering college in Nagercoil.“Like alcohol and drugs, the tobacco is also killing the people, especially younger generation who get exposed to this evil by their friends for a thrill. Even though the official machinery is taking every possible step to crush the drug and tobacco trafficking, the individuals should also cooperate with the officials in this drive while having clean habits,” Mr. Prathap noted.In Thoothukudi, Collector Vishu Mahajan, Superintendent of Police R. Shiva Prasad, Mayor Jegan Periyasamy and Corporation Commissioner C. Priyanka administered pledge to the students of Kamaraj College and honoured the winners of drug abuse awareness quiz competition. Published - August 11, 2026 08:17 pm IST