Destroy seized drugs and be done with it
At long last this Government, it seems, has decided to take steps to destroy some 1,000 kilograms of narcotics such as marijuana, cocaine, ice, Kerala ganja and heroin, etc. that were seized in the recent past.
Dr. Samantha Kumara Kithalawaarachchi, the Director of the Presidential Task Force on the prevention of drugs said the Attorney General’s advise was being sought to expedite the process and that they were also looking at the most effective method of destroying the large stock of narcotics in custody. This comes amid the huge public outcry urging the Government to destroy these narcotics to prevent some of them from slipping back into circulation.the people are also keen to know whether the drugs are being stored under fool-proof conditions in well secured warehouses where the chances of a break-in are non-existent. When considering the announcements made by the Police Narcotic Bureau of the large quantity of drugs being detected and seized on a regular basis, it makes one wonder how so much of narcotics are entering the country undetected at entry points.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror carried an alarming news item that nearly 80 per cent of some 10,000 workers, 1,000 of them foreigners, employed at construction sites in Colombo, are addicted to drugs. This was revealed at a news conference by Dr. Kithalawaarachchi. Now that the decision has been taken to destroy the narcotics, it is best if the task is carried out speedily and in public and in a manner that is transparent and accountable.this would be a major step towards the prevention of drugs being recycled.
However, it goes without saying that the drug menace has to be uprooted from our soil sooner than later. So much of drugs entering the country are a clear indication that there is a market for them in Sri Lanka and the Government has the onerous responsibility of locating the brains behind this ghastly business and are preying on vulnerable people who unknowingly provide the the filthy lucre to feed unconscionable luxury lifestyles of the drug barons.