A majority of northern states yesterday decided to set up a joint secretariat at Panchkula for data and information sharing to effectively fight the drug menace. The decision was taken here at a conference of the northern states' chief ministers, convened to evolve and formulate a joint strategy to fight the malady, said an official spokesperson of the Punjab government.

The conference was attended by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Uttarakhand CM T S Rawat with their Himachal Pradesh counterpart Jai Ram Thakur participating in it through video conference as he was unable to come here due to bad weather. The meet, called Regional Conference on Drugs Challenges & Strategies, was also attended by senior civil and police officers from these states, besides those of Rajasthan, Delhi and the union territory of Chandigarh.