Towards a drug-free society

The recent detection of a massive haul of cocaine inside a container load of sugar at the Colombo Port has once again brought to the fore the need to have greater vigilance on the smuggling of drugs to the country. It can be surmised that this ring has been in operation for some time and that drugs with a higher street value are also finding their way to the hands of addicts. Just a couple of weeks earlier, the authorities found a consignment of heroin.

The cocaine detection, seen by President Maithripala Sirisena himself, has generated a vibrant debate in society on the eve of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which falls today (June 26). The day has been held annually since 1988 on 26 June, a date chosen to commemorate Lin Zexu's dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guandong, just before the First Opium war in China.

Prohibition

Drug trafficking is defined as a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Worldwide, there are only two legal drugs - alcohol and tobacco. These are bad enough, but illegal drugs are definitely worse and more damaging to individual and societal health. Everything else is illegal, except those permitted for medicinal purposes and/or limited sales. In many countries including Sri Lanka, drug trafficking is an offence liable for the death sentence.

According to UN statistics, nearly 250 million people are using illicit drugs such as cocaine, cannabis, hallucinogens, opiates and sedative hypnotics worldwide. The global market for synthetic drugs (as opposed to plant-derived drugs such as cannabis) continues to be dominated by methamphetamine. The UN puts the value of the illegal drug trade at US$ 350 billion a year, about 1 percent of total world trade.

Alarmingly, one out of every three drug users is a woman. The annual number of drug-related deaths worldwide has remained relatively unchanged over the years. An unacceptable number of drug users continue to lose their lives prematurely, often as a result of overdose.

Generation

Illicit drugs are a threat to society, especially to the younger generation. Illegal narcotics with a street value of millions of dollars are smuggled across borders to feed the drugs trade the world over. Drug addiction has become a major social problem in most countries including Sri Lanka. More attention has to be focused on this grave problem at international level.

The UN says the Day is an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse which stemmed from the 1987 International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The UN and all Governments are of the view that illicit drugs continue to pose a major health danger to humanity. That is why drugs are, and should remain, controlled despite the limited relaxation of bans on certain drugs such as marijuana in some countries.

Community

The UN General Assembly has recognised that despite continued and increased efforts by the international community, the world drug problem continues to constitute a serious threat to public health, the safety and well-being of humanity, in particular young people, and the national security and sovereignty of States, and that it undermines socio-economic and political stability and sustainable development.

This has encouraged the Commission and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to continue their work on international drug control and also urge all Governments to provide the fullest possible financial and political support to enable UNODC to continue, expand and strengthen its operational and technical cooperation activities, within the respective mandates.

Thus, the drugs menace necessarily calls for global action, since the drugs cancer has now grown globally. Individual countries alone cannot fight the sophisticated drug smuggling operatives and networks - it is an operation that requires international cooperation. The world community must intensify the 'war on drugs', just as it has intensified the war on terrorism. On a global level, it has emerged that drug traffickers use increasingly sophisticated methods and repositioned routes to smuggle drugs. Drug cartels, which were earlier confined to South America, had started to emerge all over the world, especially in Asia and Africa. They are managing to stay one step ahead of transnational anti-crime units, according to UN researchers. Drugs are even being traded online, the deep recesses of the Internet and even some legally available pharmaceutical substances can be turned into components of illicit drugs. A good example was a range of off-the-shelf cough syrups which were being used as a drug especially by schoolchildren (they have since been made prescription-only).

Global

The global drugs trade is linked to organised crime, terrorism, money laundering, trafficking of women and children and a host of other vices. Moreover, drug addicts themselves turn to a life of crime to fund their drugs purchases, which adversely affects local communities. Children and youth comprise the social group that is most vulnerable to drugs. The message on drugs has to be conveyed to children first at home by parents and then at school by teachers.

Religious leaders and places of worship too have a major role to play in moulding a younger generation that abhors drugs. The media have an obligation to inform the whole society about the dangers of narcotics and other substances which can be abused. Sri Lanka also has a number of Governmental and Non-Governmental organisations such as the Sri Lanka Anti Narcotics Association (SLANA) and the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) which educate the public effectively on substance abuse.

Urgent action has to be taken to prevent the younger generation from falling prey to the evils of illicit drugs. That must be the cornerstone of any Governmental and international action against the illegal drugs trade. The authorities everywhere must pursue the drug lords who spread this cancer in society. Their victims - those who are addicted to drugs - have to be fully rehabilitated while taking all possible steps to ward off others from the drugs menace. The world anti-drug day that falls today is an ideal opportunity to reflect on these issues and take action at community and Government level to create a righteous society free of illegal narcotics.