• The Centre informed the Supreme Court that it is finalising a National Policy on Drug Demand Reduction to combat the rising menace of drug and alcohol abuse, especially among children.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment informed a Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that 18 States have responded to an advisory sent by the Centre to formulate an action plan for combating drug abuse.
• The Ministry, in an affidavit, said it had assigned the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre under the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to conduct a national survey on the extent and pattern of substance use.
• A final report is expected by March 2018.
• The affidavit was on a petition filed by Telugu Yuva Shakti member Kethireddy Jagadeeswar Reddy, for a CBI investigation in connection with the recent drug scandal involving Telegu celebrities.
• The Ministry affidavit refers to the December 14, 2016 judgment of the Supreme Court which ordered the Centre to complete within six months a national survey and generate a national database on substance abuse.
• The court, speaking through Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, had said the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco abuse among children should be made a specific content in the school curriculum under the aegis of New Education Policy proposed by the Centre.

Source:TH