Village revives after drug "tornado"

Plan of action

Xam Xum is one of the particularly difficult villages of Muong Long commune, with a special location adjacent to 6 villages, of which 2 (Ca Da, Xao Va) belong to Bao Thang commune. The area is spread out, located 15 km from the commune center but has no paved road, Xam Xum also has a small road to the "hot spot" Xop Mat in Luong Minh commune (Tuong Duong).

Muong Long commune officials talk with people. Photo: Hoai Thu

According to the Secretary of the Muong Long Lau Ba Cho Commune Party Committee: With such a special location, before 2016, the security and order situation in Xam Xum was particularly complicated, with the problems of buying, selling, transporting drugs and drug addiction emerging. At its peak, the village had up to 9 drug retail locations; 20 transporters and traders brought hundreds of addicts from other villages to gather to buy and use drugs on the spot.

At that time, the grassroots political system in the village was almost paralyzed, theft occurred frequently. Drugs broke up many families, separated couples, forced people to leave their homeland, and people's lives fell into a vicious cycle of poverty.

Rules and regulations are printed and posted in many places in Xam Xum village to disseminate to the people. Photo: Hoai Thu

Faced with this situation, the Party Committee of Muong Long commune was determined to restore order and mobilize people to join the fight against this dangerous social evil. Accordingly, in September 2016, the People's Committee of Muong Long commune issued a decision to promulgate the Xam Xum village convention and convention, including 13 contents, including strict regulations such as: When discovering strangers entering the village, they must immediately report to the authorities, people must not let strangers stay, curfew hours must be set, households with drug addicts must be mobilized to go to a drug rehabilitation center or at home, etc.

Muong Long Commune Party Committee also requested the Xam Xum Village Party Cell, the Management Board and mass organizations in the village, together with the Police, the Cultural Board, the Fatherland Front and political organizations at the commune level, to join in mobilizing people to unite and unify in implementing the set regulations.

After disseminating the village conventions, in August 2017, the Muong Long Commune Party Committee issued a decision to assign tasks to a 15-member working group to fight against drug abuse in Xam Xum village, led by the Party Secretary of Lau Ba Cho Commune.

Each member is assigned specific tasks according to their role, position, and ability to perform specific tasks such as: investigating the number of addicts; clearly identifying the names of those involved in storing, transporting, and trading drugs in the area; mobilizing local forces to coordinate in the fight to eradicate hot spots of storing, transporting, trading, and using drugs; Recovering homemade military weapons; explosives according to the provisions of law; distributing ballots for people to denounce subjects storing and using military weapons and explosives as a basis for fighting to recover them, not letting them float around among the people...

Positive changes

With the determination to push back drugs and gradually bring a peaceful life to the people, the members of the working group went to Xam Xum village to "eat, live and work together" with the people to carry out their mission.

In a short time, Xam Xum began to change. Throughout the stilt houses, slogans such as “Drugs are a danger”, “The fundamental cause of poverty, backwardness and disease is drugs”, “Stay away from drugs”, “Say no to drugs”, “As long as there are drugs, there is poverty and disease”... were hung and followed by the people.

People of Xam Xum village gather to enjoy bull fighting. Photo: Hoai Thu

Secretary of the Lau Ba Cho Commune Party Committee said that in the fight against drugs in Xam Xum, the Ky Son District Police and relevant departments and agencies at the district level also paid attention to supporting and helping the commune government to eliminate a number of drug retail points in the village and arrest major drug suppliers such as Va Tong Cu.

Recalling these months of working with the authorities to push back drug abuse and restore order in Xam Xum village, Mr. Lau Ba Cho - Secretary of the Commune Party Committee said: Thanks to the consensus, when the commune cadres came down to propagate, all 102 households of the village signed a commitment to comply with the law and the village's conventions and covenants.

Many village elders and influential people in the village have gone door to door to encourage drug addicts to quit at home or voluntarily go to the district drug rehabilitation center, so that they can soon reintegrate into the community and stabilize their family life. “Without the support of the people, it would be difficult to have Xam Xum like today,” Mr. Lau Ba Cho confided.

The “total” involvement of the entire political system has helped Xam Xum change. From 17 addicts in 2016, the village now has only 7 addicts; drug retail outlets have decreased from 9 to 1, which is still operating secretly.

If before, when entering Xam Xum village, many people from neighboring villages in Muong Long commune expressed "great fear", because there were times when drug dealers walked around openly, and were ready to fight back against the authorities with weapons, now, that situation in Xam Xum has decreased significantly.

Muong Long commune officials carry documents to propagate and mobilize people in Xam Xum village to implement policies and guidelines. Photo: Hoai Thu

The people of Xam Xum have realized the dangers and painful consequences of drug abuse, so they have proactively taken measures to prevent it. Along with that, they have focused on their work, built their lives, and actively participated in local movements.

From a drug “hot spot”, Xam Xum is now gradually reviving. People are actively joining hands with the Party Committee and the government to push back social evils, actively fight against crime, and build a new life.