WP tops drug related arrests

SP second, followed by CP:

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

Drug related arrests amounted to 141 per 100,000 of the population in 2008. Among the drug related arrests, 28 percent was for heroin and 71 percent for cannabis, Health Education Bureau, Mass Communication Publication Unit coordinator Dr. Shantha Hettiarachchi told the Daily News yesterday.

According to Dr. Hettiarachchi the highest number of drug related arrests were reported from the western province ( 62 percent).

This was followed by southern province (11 percent) and central province (nine percent). In the western province, 49 percent of the drug related arrests were from the Colombo district, followed by Gampaha district (seven percent) and Kalutara district (five percent). Terrorism had facilitated drug smuggling in the late1970s and early 1980s. Cannabis and opium were included prominently in the list of drugs until 1981. Then heroin invaded the island through the hippies, Dr. Hettiarachchi said.

A study conducted with 400 drug users who participated voluntarily showed that 42.9 percent were married, 11.9 percent have left the family leading children and partners helpless due to addiction. A greater proportion of drug users were labourers (31.5 percent) and vendors (26.5 percent). "We found only 1.7 percent drug addicts among public servants . About 45.2 percent of the drug addicts were spending around 5,000 to 10000 rupees while 27.3 percent spend 10,000 to 15,000 rupees a month," he said.

Around 70.5 percent used to take drugs two to three times a day and 26.5 percent had used drugs more than three times a day. Around 42.9 percent has taken drugs for the first time between the ages of 15 to 20 and 31.5 percent at the age of 20 to 25, he added.