Pritam's tunes to fight drug menace in US

Pritam Chakraborty

Music composer Pritam Chakraborty has been roped in by an American organisation to create awareness about opioid epidemic by holding live shows across the US. Opioids are drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain. President Donald Trump has declared the opioid epidemic, a national public health emergency. It accounts for more than 500,000 American deaths.

Pritam, who has scored for films like Dangal (2016) and Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017), will stage shows for the American Pain Association in Chicago, New Jersey, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington and San Jose in April.

Sanjay Gupta, president, American Pain Association says, "The message to abstain from drugs needs to reach the youth. Indian kids are especially susceptible given the high pressure to succeed and we are glad that Pritam is involved in the cause." The American Pain Society is a community of professionals working to transform public policy and clinical practice to reduce pain-related issues. Noting that drugs are killing more people than traffic accidents and guns in America, Sandeep Chakravorty, the Indian consul general in New York, says, "Unfortunately, the issue is not discussed and is swept under the rug. It has become a silent epidemic. Wrong messages are being given to young minds about drugs, and using drugs is becoming a part of popular and hip culture."

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