Hindustan Times (Patna) - Hindustan Times (Patna) - Live
Drug addicts shouldn’t be shunned by the society, says Sanjay Dutt
His personal battle with drugs prompted Sanjay Dutt to be a part of #DrugFreeIndia — a nationwide campaign designed to fight against drug abuse. The campaign will be launched on February 18 in Punjab and February 19 in Haryana, and approximately 60 thousand students from several colleges will attend the event on both days to take a pledge against drug abuse.
Talking about why he got involved with the campaign, Sanjay says, “It is very important for me and I have always wanted to do something for people affected with drug abuse because I have gone through it myself. I was one of the lucky ones who could go through this treatment and get out of it. My appeal to everyone is that we must do something for the youth of the country because they are the future. This is just the beginning. Drug addiction has to be treated in a proper ethical, mental and physical manner, and we are extremely serious about doing it the right way.”
The campaign which is an initiative of The Art of Living, has a lot of Bollywood support from people such as Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Aamir Khan, Parineeti Chopra, Kapil Sharma, Badshah, etc. However, Sanjay feels that talking about drug addiction in India is still a taboo. “I feel treatment-wise, it is not taken as seriously as it should be. You know it’s a taboo. But there is really nothing wrong in coming up and saying that ‘This is my problem, please help me!’ and this is what we are trying to make people aware of. Why should any drug addict be shunned by the society? We should try and get this right. It is not only the education for the drug addicts, it is also educating their parents, neighbours, everybody,” says the actor.
In fact, he says that his personal battle with drug addiction helped him get some perspective on this issue. “Personally, when I was going through this, I always lied to myself. But when I realised that it could kill me, I told my father about it. I was one of the few lucky people who could be taken to a drug rehabilitation centre. I knew that I have to do it for my family and myself. And now, I don’t mind talking about it and telling my experiences to help and encourage people in whatever way it can,” says Sanjay.