Punjab minister says opium doesn't work in sports after Sidhu's remarks

Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi said Thursday that opium was not a substitute for chemical drugs and wondered why people were asking for legalizing its cultivation.

"Opium does not work in sports... Youngsters may go for a glass of beer but they do not take opium. I do not know why people are asking for growing opium," Sodhi said.

He said, "Opium is not substituted of chemical drugs or 'chitta'."

"Opium does not work in sports," he said.

Sodhi was asked to respond on a question that Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has reportedly supported suspended AAP lawmaker from Patiala Dharamvira Gandhi's demand for legalising the cultivation of opium and poppy husk in Punjab.

"If somebody has given his opinion, it may be his personal thought," said Sodhi.

When Sidhu was asked to respond on a question of opium cultivation Thursday, he declined to comment.

Gandhi, a practising doctor, has been pitching for the legalization of poppy and opium cultivation.

Sidhu had reportedly said Gandhi was talking sense.

(With inputs from agencies.)