Public transport to avoid arrest:

Sharp increase in cannabis users

by Carol Aloysius

The growing number of cannabis users, has now resorted to trafficking the drug illicitly using public transport to avoid arrest, a spokesperson for the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board said.

“This trend has been seen in recent years as the number of cannabis users has increased islandwide”, Assistant Director NDDCB Ms Badhrani Senanayake, told the Sunday Observer.

Her recently released report on the drug situation in Sri Lanka, says that compared to 2011, the number of cannabis related arrests increased by 11 percent last year, with the prevalence rate of 184 per 100,000 population in 2012.

The Western Province leads the number of cannabis arrests by a significant margin. According to statistics quoted in the report, 61 percent of the cases were from the Western Province, followed by 11 percent in the Southern Province and 6 percent in the Eastern Province. District-wise 50 percent of cases were from Colombo, followed by 7 percent from Gampaha and 6 percent from Hambantota.

Cannabis is reportedly the only plant (drug) cultivated illicitly in Sri Lanka on an estimated 500 hectares, mostly in the dry zones of the Eastern province and southern province.

Recently seized cannabis show that modern agriculture methods are being used. “A more potent variety of cannabis with more flowering tops is now becoming popular especially among young users”, the NDDCB spokesperson said, adding that the growing incidence of cannabis users in Sri Lanka was noted from 2008”. “Cannabis constitutes a major problem in Sri Lanka”, she said.

She said that heroin users were now shifting from Colombo to remote towns and rural areas. The use of opium however, was low with only three arrests since this drug is given only to ayurvedic physicians in government hospitals for medicinal use, the spokesman said.