sinhala essay about drugs

6th April, 2024

The rise of synthetic illicit drugs

17 Dec 2022 | By Asiri Fernando

As concerns about a growing drug abuse epidemic grips the crisis-affected island, authorities are gearing up to conduct a broad survey early next year to map a suspected spike in the abuse of narcotics in the student community.

The moves come in the wake of educators and parents scrambling to ensure that schools and other education institutions remain safe for their children and students.

Solution – a slow-release pill

Sri Lanka has long struggled to fine-tune its national narcotics abuse policies, which have largely been outdated, and playing catch-up to tactics employed by traffickers, peddlers, and their victims.

While many governments have declared ‘war’ on the narcotic menace, few have worked towards drafting a holistic national policy on substance abuse, taking neither its socio-economic nor public health implications into consideration. 

Given the failed ‘war on drugs’ approach championed by other nations, who have more resources available at their disposal, Sri Lankans, especially parents, can only encourage the policymakers to take a more informed approach and not fall short with populist policies, which the island nation has become known for.

Last week, Minister of Transport and Highways and Minister of Mass Media Bandula Gunawardana stated that the Cabinet had approved a plan by the President to establish a presidential task force on combating drug use by school children, with an emphasis on the alleged increase in the use of crystal methamphetamines.

Earlier this year, Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha told Parliament that 81 students had been entered into rehabilitation programmes during the first eight months of this year. In August, Premajayantha stated that a mechanism to inspect school bags of students on entry to schools would be introduced and that the Government would move to amend the outdated Poisons, Opium, and Dangerous Drugs Act.

The Ministry of Justice also moved to close a loophole in the legislation last month by making it illegal to be in possession of more than 5 g of methamphetamine/ice, with the crime linked to a possible death penalty.

According to Justice and Prison Affairs State Minister Anuradha Jayaratne, the Supreme Court is vested with powers to decide if juveniles who are found to be in possession of the substance should be directed to a rehabilitation programme or incarceration.

Attempts to contact the Minister of Education regarding what role the ministry would play in the narcotics prevention drive to protect schools failed.

Lack of data

Several senior State officials and law enforcement officers told The Sunday Morning that they lacked the data to identify if there had been an uptick in the use of crystal methamphetamines among students.

Responding to a question, National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB) Director of Research Bhadrani Senanayake told The Sunday Morning that a three-month long survey to ascertain the spread of narcotics abuse by youngsters of school-going age would be launched in January.

According to the NDDCB, while there is growing concern about the use of narcotics among the school student population, there isn’t adequate data to support it.

Commenting on data at hand, Senanayake said the last survey targeting school-age children had been conducted in 2018, where a sample size of 5,036 students had voluntarily responded to a questionnaire. According to the report, only 16% (787) students had volunteered that they had experimented with some form of narcotics.

“We need to get data to analyse school children’s use of drugs. We believe it has increased, but we need to work with facts, not assumptions. Up to date, we have not received any evidence sample (forensic) of meth/ice being found on school children. Now that doesn’t mean it’s not there. It can be, but to frame solutions, we first need to survey and do a data analysis. We are planning to start this in January 2023 with multi-stakeholder support. The survey may take three or four months to complete,” Senanayake said.

Commenting on the broader drug user scope in Sri Lanka, the NDDCB Research Director said that in 2019, nearly 100,000 persons had been identified as heroin users and nearly 310,000 reported as users of different varieties of cannabis. She opined that recent discourse on the use of cannabis as a medicinal plant and its export potential may have contributed to more youth experimenting with the ‘gateway’ drug.

Senanayake also pointed out that the use of alcohol and tobacco products among school student populations was well documented and represented a more long-term issue that also needed to be addressed.

Those who prey on kids

When The Sunday Morning contacted the Police, it was noted that the enforcement role of the presidential task force on the matter would be handled by the office of the Western Province Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon.

According to Chief Inspector Bathiya Jayasinghe of the Western Province DIG’s office, the Police has investigated drug abuse allegations from 233 schools within its jurisdiction over the last three months, arresting 64 narcotics suppliers who were found to be targeting students.

A total of 269 raids had been conducted from information gathered from the school which led to the arrests. He would not comment on how many students had been found with narcotics nor what action, if any, had been taken against the juveniles by the Police. 

Meanwhile, 31,000 students from 194 schools in the Western Province had participated in awareness programmes up to November this year.

According to Jayasinghe, one of the key obstacles in effectively mapping the scope of the problem is the students’ fear of punishment and suspension from school, as well as a lack of understanding by school administrators on identifying narcotics, the telltale behaviour pattern of students who may be addicted to them, and the lack skilled counselling capacity at school level to help at-risk children.

“From January, we are planning to hold a multi-day training programme for selected teachers to identify drugs and the behaviour of those engaged in drug abuse. We will also hold a series of awareness programmes about the risks and dangers of drug abuse for students using experts; this programme has been named ‘Heta Dawasa’ (Tomorrow) as it represents the safety of our future. The programme will be conducted with the assistance of the NDDCB and other experts,” Jayasinghe explained.

When asked if crystal meth/ice had been found to be prevalent among the students of the Western Province, Jayasinghe would not comment on specific details. However, he said that cannabis, tobacco, and methamphetamine pills – also known as party drugs – were common. 

“Unlike before, the proliferation of narcotics is no longer limited to schools in Colombo, you find people supplying in the rural areas too,” he pointed out.

The Police would also not share details of how many students had been arrested, charged, or directed towards rehabilitation due to possession of narcotics over the last few years.

The Police department has established a special hotline at the Western Province DIG’s office for educators, parents, and students to report illicit drug activities in and around their schools. 

The number 0777 128 128 can be called to inform the Police about such activities, CI Jayasinghe said, adding that tips or complaints could also be sent via WhatApp and Viber platforms to the number. 

Further, complaints can also be sent to [email protected]. The Police is urging the public to provide information regarding drug activities linked to schools.

Peer pressure

According to the latest NDDCB report on drug abuse in the country (2019/2020), nearly 45% of drug abusers who sought treatment have identified peer pressure as a reason for them to first experiment and then get hooked on narcotics.

As such, 740 out of 1,649 persons have stated that they use drugs due to peer pressure, with another 734 stating that they use drugs for personal pleasure, with only 69 stating that they were using drugs due to problematic issues.

According to a Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officer, many of the youth who transition through their rebellious period tend to use narcotics due to peer pressure and the desire to experiment.

“We see many students in the suburbs trying to gain what they don’t have which the affluent children in some parts of Colombo have. There is peer pressure to be ‘cool,’ to be part of a trend. For some children, their desire to have a piece of what the rich kids have is a strong motivator. Also, many children from less-affluent areas see the use of drugs like cannabis as a status symbol – at least at the beginning – and a means to belong to something bigger than themselves. Increasingly, we are seeing this among young girls too. The grey side of the night entertainment industry in Colombo is quickly being absorbed by suburban youth. Some get over it quickly; the vulnerable get hooked,” the PNB officer explained.

Hype doesn’t help kids

The veteran PNB officer who spoke to The Sunday Morning on terms of anonymity opined that along with cigarettes and a range of tobacco-based chewing products, cannabis and party drug pills made up the bulk of the narcotics which were in circulation.

“Yes, ice is available; however, students will have to have a lot of money to buy their daily hit. It is likely that some children are using ice. Normally, the substance is more commonly used by those in the construction, logistics, and labour market as it enables them to work strenuously for a period of time with little fatigue but ice impacts your health faster and is far more damaging than other drugs.”

He cautioned authorities and the media, especially broadcast channels, to report the use of narcotics by students in a responsible manner.

“Now there is a hype; yes, we have to be concerned and yes, we need to build awareness. But we need to be mindful about creating a hype around ice; children love to want what they are denied. They are curious, they may wonder, ‘what is so bad about ice?’ The hype may push some kids to try it out too. Hype on any product will only help increase demand; it’s the traffickers and peddlers who will make money out of the demand, leaving behind misery if we don’t approach this issue carefully,” the PNB officer said.

Enforcement issues

The suspected rise in drug use among students has raised concerns about the inflow of narcotics, which faced supply issues during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

A retired PNB officer told The Sunday Morning that issues in law enforcement and border control may have created gaps which were exploited by traffickers to increase supply to the island.

“I believe that it is a complex problem. Firstly, due to the issues on fuel and cost, patrolling both at sea and shore has reduced. The Navy needs a large quantity of fuel to patrol the wide trafficking approaches, some of which reach almost as far as the equator. On land, the Police doesn’t have adequate assets (vehicles), technology, and manpower to pursue drug traffickers like they used to. 

“Further, more drugs, heroin, and methamphetamines are coming out of the Afghan-Pakistan-Iran axis and from countries like Burma – the golden triangle. We also have a systemic issue of corruption within the law enforcement agencies – Police, Customs, and possibly even in the armed forces – which makes it much more difficult to carry out effective drug interdictions. Lastly, there is a shortage of drug test kits to identify narcotics in the field and to screen suspects for drug abuse,” the former PNB detective said. 

He pointed out that other countries had worked with organisations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to establish specialised vetted units to reduce the impact of corruption and infiltration by drug syndicates.

However, when contacted by The Sunday Morning on Saturday (17) , the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Police denied that they lacked adequate fuel and resources to carry out effective patrolling. “The SLN is also being supplied fuel from the Australian Government to conduct maritime security and crime prevention patrols. Just yesterday, an intelligence-led joint operation netted two local trawlers with heroin and ice,” Navy Spokesperson Capt. Indika De Silva said. 

The Police would not comment on the shortage of test kits, but said that the department had filed criminal charges against a number of their own officers, including those at the PNB, who were allegedly linked to drug trafficking.

(Part one of three)

What is ‘meth,’ ‘crystal meth,’ or ‘ice’?

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), methamphetamines – also known as meth – are part of the group of drugs called Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS). They are synthetic drugs that are usually manufactured in illegal laboratories and come in the form of a powder, a tablet, or as crystals that look like shards of glass.

It is understood that while all forms of methamphetamines are available in Sri Lanka, it is most frequently available in tablet and crystal forms. The crystal form, popularly known as ice, is usually smoked or injected by users.

Risks of short-term use can see users lose their appetite and start breathing faster. Their heart rate and blood pressure may increase and their body temperature may rise and cause sweating. With large doses, users can feel restless and irritable and can experience panic attacks. 

Excessive doses of methamphetamine can lead to convulsions, seizures, and death from respiratory failure, stroke, or heart failure. Long-term methamphetamine use can lead to malnutrition, weight loss, and the development of psychological dependence.

Further, once chronic users stop taking methamphetamine, a long period of sleep, and then depression, usually follows. Methamphetamine use can also sometimes trigger aggressive, violent, and bizarre behaviour among users.

2021 and 2022 arrest figures for heroin, KG, meth/ice

According to the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB), between January to the end of October this year (2022), 67,900 persons have been arrested on drug-related charges.

“The total quantity of heroin seized islandwide was 1,046.034 kg and the quantity of cannabis seized islandwide was 10,214 kg. Meanwhile, 377.293 kg of methamphetamine was seized in January to October 2022,” the NDDCB said.

According to the NDDCB, between 2020 and October 2022, Colombo District remained the hotspot for heroin and methamphetamine/ice use in Sri Lanka, with Gampaha District coming second.

Further, up to October this year, 1,376 persons with drug abuse issues had entered into drug treatment facilities run by the State and NGOs seeking treatment, the NDDCB reported.

According to the Police, 1,427.5 kg of heroin, 9,897.7 kg of cannabis, 370 kg of cocaine, 39 kg of hashish, 108 kg of methamphetamine including crystal meth/ice, and 0.1 kg of psychotropic substances have been seized from 1 January to 10 December this year by nine local law enforcement agencies.

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• Journal of Politics and Law
• Vol. 13, No. 2 (2020)

Social Aspects of Drug Addiction in Sri Lanka

•   Isma Lebbe Mohamed Mahir    
•   Thaseem Mohamed Fathima Wazeema    

Social problems are rapidly increasing in modern societies due to various reasons. One of these is drug addiction, which has become a major issue in the contemporary world, as it is proving to be a serious social problem in both developing and underdeveloped countries. This review article that focuses on the social aspects of drug addiction in Sri Lanka is based on secondary data obtained from the published works of different authors; they provide details about the identity of drugs, drug addiction and the increasing number of addicts in Sri Lanka. Drug addiction has become an important issue due to its severe impact on public health, its tendency to encourage crime, cause diseases, poverty and destruction of family life in Sri Lanka. Heroin and cannabis (marijuana) are found to be the most commonly used drugs in Sri Lanka. Laws and policies designed to control drug abuse and regulations on drug addicts have not brought any major change or desired outcome in the Sri Lankan drug scene. Drug users in Sri Lanka get their supply of drugs from the underground drug market, which has its internal and external sources. Rehabilitation of drug addicts has become an urgent need in the country to protect its valuable citizens who are needed to build a sustainable nation that is free from drugs. Drug addiction is preventable and can be managed successfully if every citizen of the country gives his / her full support and contribution.

• DOI: 10.5539/jpl.v13n2p54

• ISSN(Print): 1913-9047
• ISSN(Online): 1913-9055
• Started: 2008
• Frequency: quarterly

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• A Collection of Research Papers and Research Abstract on Drug Abuse in Sri Lanka I
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The drug abuse problem in Sri Lanka

Affiliation.

• 1 Institute of Comparative Health Policy and Law, Nawala, Sri Lanka.
• PMID: 7666746

Sri Lanka's experience in dealing with drugs of abuse and with the drug abuse problem is unique in many ways. From the sixteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century, the colonial powers regulated the use of opium as a revenue earning measure. Since independence was achieved in 1948, various measures have been taken to scale down the abuse of opium, cannabis and certain pyschotropic substances, but not all these efforts have been successful. In the wake of ethnic problems, there has been an increase in the involvement of Sri Lankan nationals in smuggling drugs across national frontiers. The absence of a comprehensive national policy on drug abuse has been a major constraint on law enforcement and the development of interventions for education, treatment, rehabilitation and crop substitution. Sri Lanka is fortunate to have a rich tradition of networks of non-governmental organizations and religious institutions, and these can be mobilized to discourage the use of intoxicating drugs and alcohol.

• Drug and Narcotic Control / legislation & jurisprudence*
• Health Education / legislation & jurisprudence
• Health Policy / legislation & jurisprudence
• Socioeconomic Factors
• Sri Lanka / epidemiology
• Substance-Related Disorders / epidemiology
• Substance-Related Disorders / prevention & control*

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