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| Saturday, 26 June 2004 |
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Destination Narcotics by Prasad Abu Bakr
It has been years since our country has fallen into the hands of professional drug dealers both local and foreign. There are many foreigners who have invaded the market here and are operating in safety under the protection of the very law that are supposed to catch them in a net and bring them to book. But it is very strange how these elements are getting away by openly breaking the rules. For example there are many foreigners specially from neighbouring countries living here with expired visas who are not checked by the authorities concerned. Most of them live here as agents to couriers who arrive in the country carrying drugs which are handed over to them for either distribution within the country or to be handed over to another courier to be smuggled out of the country. But it is always foreign nationals that get involved in this type of operations. There are yet others that act independently, specially Sri Lankans who travel regularly to destinations in the SAARC region. Most of the kingpins of the region are living in laps of luxury using small time sellers to conduct their sales. These sellers who are invariably addicts take the entire operation to the slum levels where it has more than one reason to flourish. Jobless youth, children abandoned by their parents who have gone to the Middle East seeking jobs to make their children's lives better are the unsuspecting victims. Eventhough the menace of drug abuse is not very evident outside here within the city's cosmopolitan areas it is thriving at full scale in the backyards of Colombo and most of its suburbs. Most of the so-called agents and peddlers are also carrying these drugs to faraway places outside Colombo. Small time peddlers are handed over the task of selling it at local level and many innocent village youth are groomed to become addicted to drugs overnight. In recent times there have been undisclosed reports of how most of the middle east returners have got hooked on to smoking marijuana. The shocking part is that most of the pot smokers are supposed to be women who have spent long years in those countries employed as house maids. Introducing drugs to a total novice is easier said than done. It is reported that only a small number of persons can be turned out to be full time addicts out of the total number of people that peddlers befriend on a daily basis. It is also supposed to be a rather slow brainwashing process that supposed to be taking place during the first stages of the meeting between the peddler and his intended addict. The peddlers are first and foremost advised by their traffickers to strike a note of utmost friendship with his victim in the first instance. Touching on something that will be of common interest to both these can range from issues pertaining to broken homes, sex or other kind of vices such as gambling. Once the grey areas pertaining to the problems that are going on in the `intended' victims mind the peddler will breakout into common grounds comparing his own problems which will be on the same lines. And he will initially not sell it to his victim in the first instance. He may look like a good samaritan and share the `healing device' with his loving friend, who will later have to scrape out every cent he has in his possession not only to console his own feelings of despair, which will rise with the tide of time, but that of his peddler, who sits beside him in the disguise of a caring friend. In fact it won't be too long that the friend, who by now had turned into a full time addict finds out that his `peddler friend' who lent him a kind ear has many friends same as himself that has been systemically transformed in to his customers. This menace that has been plaguing our society for innumerable years seemed to be having the authorities dodging upon it for too long, which has had many negative results come out of that attitude. For example the spread of the drug culture to villages has taken place because strict measures were not taken at the initial level at the point of arrival of the drugs in Colombo. It is also questioned how safe are the drugs that are being seized at the airport? Also of the haul of drugs found in the process of raids that are being conducted in many parts of the country. Another issue is that most of those who are accused in cases involving drug dealings are not necessarily the big dons of the game. They are merely small time sprats swimming the large ocean that has in it the big time sharks escaping the 'net' of law either by evading it or 'befriending it'. It is false belief that couriers are necessarily young girls and boys. There have been many instances that old women and young children have been nabbed with narcotics in their possession. Traffickers use some of the most unsuspecting individuals or disguised persons to attain their goals. Among them are sweep ticket sellers, `Achcharu Ammas' seated by school gates. Boutique operates also near school and in recent times it is in doubt whether peddlers are operating school vans in the guise of drivers. This gives them very easy access to the students that are handed over to them in great trust by unsuspecting parents. So a closer look at the whole picture that has been looming large in our presence does not look necessarily as if it has come under full control. In fact it seems to be getting bigger each time kilos and more kilos of drugs with its couriers are arrested at the country's airport. Almost half or more of the convicts languishing in the state's prisons are mostly there for sentences passed on them for dealing in drugs. But the pattern seems to be continuing unhindered, organisations dealing with rehabilitation work connected to drug abuse say that the problem would have been less than half its size if parents and teachers kept a watchful eye over their young members' behaviour. They are also stating that schools should conduct awareness programmes on a regular basis with the participation of parents so that a full study of this growing menace can be exposed to society. It is time that parents, teachers and other young adults of our society woke up fully to solve this issue with total commitment towards doing so. Even if the authorities who are seemingly turning a blind eye at arresting and bringing the culprits to book, we can do a lot by discouraging young people by getting them totally disassociated with drugs. By doing so we may be able to stop this menace at its root level because if the buying power gets less the traffickers will automatically stop importing something that they cannot sell in our shores. Today the necessity of responsible adult involvement in eradicating the local drug menace has become a primal issue. If we fail to serve this area we may be openly inviting the prospects of our country becoming Asia's biggest ever drug related destinations. ###### D.A.R.E dares against drug abuse by Lionel Wijesiri
With a turnover of around $500 billions, it is the third largest business in the world, next to petroleum and arms trade. Nearly 190 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other. The constant increase in the quantity of various drugs seized worldwide indicates the increase in the number of addicts. With the menace of drug continuing to spread its tentacles, the problem acquires large dimensions. It no longer is an individual or a social problem, but a politico-economic one with the facet of narco-terrorism added. Countries such as Panama, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Nicaragua are examples of destabilised governments and economy, thanks mainly to drugs. Drug abuse is a global phenomenon. It affects almost every country, although its extent and characteristics differ from region to region. Drug abuse trends around the world, especially among youth, have started to converge over the past few decades. Demand reduction strategies seek to prevent the onset of drug use, help drug users break the habit and provide treatment through rehabilitation and social reintegration. At the 1998 UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem, Member States recognized that reducing the demand for drugs was an essential pillar in the stepped-up global effort to fight drug abuse and trafficking. They committed themselves to reduce significantly both the supply of and demand for drugs by 2008, as expressed in the Political Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction. Sri Lankan Scenario In Sri Lanka, fast changing lifestyles and peer pressure were some of the reasons for sharp increase in the number of drug abuse cases, according to medical experts. The experts believe that unless our society realises the impending threat of the drug abuse, the menace cannot be controlled. The common drugs of abuse in Sri Lanka are heroin, and cannabis. Cannabis, commonly called "Ganja" in Sri Lanka, has been used since ancient times as a herbal medicine in traditional pharmacology. Heroin was first introduced in the country in 1981 initially through the so-called "hippie" type or tourists. Thus the incidence and consumption of heroin was long confined to the tourists' areas in the country. It is believed that there are 200,000 cannabis abusers in Sri Lanka. The majority of heroin abusers are in the age group of 20 to 35 years, generally from urban areas and predominately young males. High-risk groups in the country include manual labourers, street vendors, taxi drivers, commercial sex workers and tourist industry workers in Colombo. The strategic location of Sri Lanka in the Indian ocean and being close to India's southern coastline makes the country vulnerable to drug trafficking. According to government sources heroin trafficking from Sri Lanka to European countries was conducted on an organized scale since 1984. It is believed that the larger shipments of heroin from the southern coasts of India are trafficked to Sri Lanka for local consumption and re-export. Also large consignments of cannabis and heroin from Karachi and other cities of Pakistan are believed to reach coastal cities and the capital of Sri Lanka for shipment through the Colombo international airport and seaport to destinations outside of the region. One report says that over the past 10 years, the Indian Narcotics Control Bureau, DRI, customs and local police have seized some 850,000 kgs of heroin, mainly of indigenous origin. Alarmingly, 75 per cent of the same was meant for Sri Lanka to be smuggled through coast or by air. Gamini T., a social worker said that he would not blame the government or those who were indulging in supply of drugs. "I would rather blame the society. People have no time to bother about their surroundings. This was leading to the youth getting misguided. Schools have become commercialised. There is no personal attention and no one bothers even if a student regularly bunks classes." He called upon the youth to realise the evil effects of drug abuse and to develop willpower where they could resist the peer pressure. Maybe, we can learn a great deal from the highly successful USA programme - D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). This year 36 million school children around the world-26 million in the U.S.-will benefit from D.A.R.E., the highly acclaimed program that gives kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs and violence. D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in nearly 80 percent of US schools and in more than 54 countries around the world. D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives. The D.A.R.E. curriculum is designed to be taught by police officers whose training and experience gave them the background needed to answer the sophisticated questions often posed by young students about drugs and crime. Prior to entering the D.A.R.E. program, officers undergo 80 hours of special training in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques, and communication skills. 40 hours of additional training are provided to D.A.R.E. instructors to prepare them to teach the high school curriculum. D.A.R.E. goes beyond traditional drug abuse and violence prevention programs. It gives children the skills needed to recognize and resist the subtle and overt pressures that cause them to experiment with drugs or become involved in gangs or violent activities. Dr. Vishva Selvaratnam, a neuro-surgeon based in Washington and in Sri Lanka on holiday says, "D.A.R.E.'s primary mission is to provide children with the information and skills they need to live drug-and-violence-free lives. Additionally, it establishes positive relationships between students and law enforcement, teachers, parents, and other community leaders". "I believe every youngster whether in US or Sri Lanka should have the opportunity to grow-up healthy, safe, secure, and equipped with the skills needed to succeed in life. Contemporary Sri Lanka, however, is rampant with challenges that could keep children from a positive life path". ###### Image of Europe: Reversing the expert brain drain Ravisara Kariyawasam reports from Germany Two thousand scientists in Paris voted on 09.03.2004 to halt their vote in order to gain more funds. But the underlying message is, that if the French government did not give more financial assistance to research programs, the country would face a brain drain of highly skilled professionals to places such as the USA and Canada. This move was preceded by a similar complaint from Italian researchers who also threatened to leave the country. This development does not stop before the EU enlargement: some of the ten new member states could lose up to one in ten students to the West. But it is not only a higher salary that draws the scientists away from their countries, it is also the challenge to work with more modern appliances and techniques. Therefore, the governments will have to tackle the problem of not only hinder their best minds to leave, but also to entice them to return. Whaling 'too cruel to continue' Animal welfare campaigners say methods of killing whales are so inhumane that all whaling operations should cease. A coalition of 140 groups, Whalewatch, says many whales do not die quickly when hit, and tests to decide exactly when a whale is dead are inadequate. But whalers say their methods are not cruel, and reject calls to end whaling. The Whalewatch report, Troubled Waters, is published to mark the start of a global campaign against whaling. Coalition members, from 55 countries, include the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. The report says more than 1,400 whales are likely to die this year alone, despite the moratorium. Most whales are killed with harpoons designed to explode inside them. Three countries, Japan, Norway and Iceland, continue to kill whales in accordance with the commission's rules. Whalewatch says Norway reported around 20 per cent of whales failed to die instantaneously in 2002/3, and that Japan reported almost 60 per cent were not killed outright. It is also concerned at the use of rifles and other ways to despatch whales which have survived being harpooned. Whalewatch concludes: "On grounds of animal welfare alone, all whaling operations should be halted." Scientific surprise: ovaries might be replenished Challenging an 80-year-old biological truth that a female's eggs are made one time only, in limited numbers, researchers have found startling evidence that the ovaries may instead be replenished with new eggs throughout a female's reproductive career. Scientists report in the recent issue of the journal Nature that they have discovered multiple signposts of germ-line stem cells in the ovaries of young and adult female mice: powerful and many-talented cells capable of generating a fresh batch of immature egg 'seeds', as well as the nourishing ovarian infrastructure needed to bring these oocytes to fruition. Moreover, the stem cells appear to be quite active, indicating that they are not a pool of insignificant holdovers from fetal development, but rather are busy creating new little egglets and their follicle housing on the surface of the adult ovary. Follicles are fluid-filled capsules in which oocytes ripen into fully-formed eggs, capable of being fertilised. If confirmed by other researchers, the results would upend a doctrine adhered to by reproductive biologists for the last 80 years; that a female mammal is born with all the oocytes and follicles she will ever have, and that her stock of eggs is steadily depleted until the procreation pantry is bare. Males, by contrast, have long been known to possess germ-line stem cells in their testes that make large batches of new sperm throughout adulthood. And should the process of egg renewal prove to be at work in humans, the ramifications, reproductive biologists agree, are profound. Cultivating an ethical flower trade A new fair trade system for flowers is due to begin later this year. Called FFP - Fair Flowers and Plants - it will be introduced first in Europe, but aims to become a global system. Environmental and social campaigners say it will help to eliminate abuses in the global flower industry, such as overuse of pesticides, child labour, and discrimination. In countries like Kenya where the industry has expanded rapidly in recent years, environmental degradation is also an issue. The flower industry has received some unwelcome publicity in recent years, as activists have raised these issues in the West. As a result, there has been an explosion in codes of practice for growers and exporters. And in the UK, many supermarkets now buy directly from growers, and demand adherence to more sets of ethical standards. Despite the advent of direct buying for supermarkets, the bulk of the world flower trade - perhaps 60 per cent - is channelled through auction houses in Holland. |
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Produced by Lake House |
A large part of the country's drug addicts are supposed to be jobless
youth who become victims of kingpin operators either as total dependents
who will go to any extent to get their daily dose of heroin or help in the
trafficking operations still for the same purpose.
The picture is grim and forebodingly scary if the world statistics on
the drugs scenario is taken into account when the world observes
International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking this day.
