Training of Trainers (TOT) a first of its kind course onSubstance Use prevention in School settings and for Police functionariesstarted separately here today.

Inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Sushma Chauhan, the twoday training programme for teachers is being organized by DistrictAdministration Jammu in collaboration with National Institute of Social Defence(NISD) as part of National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) ofNISD - Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Director NISD, Dr Veerindra Mishra, Senior Superintendent ofPolice, Jammu Tejinder Singh Superintendent of Police (North city) Amrit PalSingh, Superintendent of Police (Hqr) Farooq Qaiser, Superintendent of Police,Rural Suram Singh, District Social Welfare officer Ajay Salaan and other seniorfunctionaries of police and civil administration were present on the occasion.

As many as 35 teachers from government schools and 50 policeofficers from the district are participating in the programme.

The aim of this programme is to create awareness amongteachers regarding the Substance Abuse as its magnitude is increasing day byday. Substance Abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactivesubstances, including alcohol and illicit drugs which can further result independence syndrome to behavioural, cognitive and physiology aspects. Excessiveuse of these drugs resulted depicts harmful effects on day to day activitiesand sometimes it can also become fatal.

A training module separately for school setting and policefunctionaries was introduced and sessions related to relevant topics onSubstance use prevention was carried out during the training programme.

The Deputy Commissioner appreciated the efforts of NISD fortaking these initiatives to orient and equip the teachers for such kind ofskills so that they can work at the prevention level.

She said that it is the teaching community, which plays amajor role in   transforming the lives ofstudents.

She appealed to the teachers to equip future generationswith sturdy intellect and positive thinking process so that they can contributeto the betterment of society and eradicate social ills like drug abuse.

In the two-day programme, subject experts  and resource persons including ManagerNAPDDR, Dr Sijo George, Project Assistant Anamika Rai, Director RRTC, VijayKumar and Durgesh Nandan, SLSA Jyoti Sharma and Chairman, Team Jammu ZorawarSingh Jamwal have been invited to deliver talks to the participants on variousissues related to drug abuse prevention in society.

The participants for TOT Substance Use in School settingswere sensitized on various topics which include negative consequences of druguse, teaching life skills, preparing adolescence to say No to Drugs and helpingadolescence to find healthy alternatives against drugs.

Meanwhile, the Police functionaries were introduced variousconcepts related to drug use and disorders and magnitude of the menace.Sessions on dealing addicts: viewing in a social justice perspectives, legalacts and drug control agencies, tackling within the police community, role andresponsibility of the police functionaries to deal substance use prevention.