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| Friday, 13 June 2003 |
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by Panduka Senanayake and Asanga Warnakulasuriya The Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB), the main law enforcement arm in the fight against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking together with the Interior Ministry has declared a week devoted to focusing on the drug menace and educating the public on the evils of drug abuse commencing June 23. "Drug awareness programmes, special religious activities and anti-narcotic campaigns has been organized in Police stations islandwide to mark the World Anti-Narcotics Day which falls on June 26", Director PNB Pujith Jayasundara said. "A Yellow Ribbon Campaign has been organised to exhibit everbody's concern to eradicate the drug menace with over 50,000 yellow ribbon badges to be distributed during the week" the Director said. Anti-Narcotics Stickers, Banners, Logos and Poster campaigns , street dramas and teledramas to educate general public, live TV and radio discussions and lectures by prominent personalities to educate school children are among the other activities organised by the PNB. The principal sponsors of this event will be Hammedias while the co-sponsors will be Phoenix, Dharmawardena Guruge and Soy Foods (Pvt) Ltd. Meanwhile, the Director also explained that," with the ongoing peace process obviating the expenditure on weapons, drugs has assumed the number one spot in Sri Lanka's black economy with statistics showing a whopping 50 million rupees a day being spent by drug addicts for their "fix". The research carried out by the PNB had revealed that during the year 2001-2002,roughly over 100,000 drug addicts throughout the country spent an average of Rs. 500 for drugs on a daily basis. This amount fluctuated from Rs. 500 to Rs. 25,000 depending on the economic level of the addict. Another surprising discovery made by the PNB was that out of the 100,000 addicts countrywide, nearly 10,000 were from the Colombo Metropolitan area. The Director also stressed the importance of adding more teeth to the existing Anti-drugs law where the PNB finds it difficult to carry out the investigations. Under the existing law, investigations into the assets owned by the traffickers are somewhat restrained. The tapping of phones are also illegal under the current law where it's known to be one of the most important steps in apprehending the suspects, he added.
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