{"id":117947,"date":"2014-01-05T00:03:22","date_gmt":"2014-01-04T18:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=117947"},"modified":"2014-01-11T12:01:42","modified_gmt":"2014-01-11T06:31:42","slug":"no-takers-for-the-war-on-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/no-takers-for-the-war-on-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"No Takers For The War On Drugs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake<\/span><\/a> claims that Sri Lanka has become a main drug distribution center in Asia and warns that it could soon become a center for the entire world.\u00a0 The dark predictions do have a tinge of exaggeration, understandable because Attanayake is in the Opposition.\u00a0 Understandable too is the fact that he keeps mum on the key role played by his party way back in the seventies to open the country\u2019s doors to \u2018the robber barons\u2019 (JR<\/span><\/a>\u2019s famous green light term) and all kinds of ills including drugs.\u00a0 The term \u2018kudu\u2019 came into vogue during that UNP regime.<\/p>\n

These things do not in any way legitimate non-action on the part of the current regime to pull things back.\u00a0 Even if Attanayake is exaggerating a bit, he does have a point.\u00a0 We have had the Prime Minister knowingly or unknowingly facilitating large scale drug trafficking.\u00a0 We had the Officer-in-Charge of a police station personally trafficking drugs.\u00a0 There are whispers that other drug barons have found favor with the high and mighty of the regime.<\/p>\n

It is not just drugs.\u00a0 For all the rhetoric about reining in substance abuse, mathata thitha<\/i> in policy documents included, little seems to have changed on the ground.\u00a0 Regulations about selling liquor in the proximity of schools are routinely flouted.\u00a0 The Minister of Health himself declared that it is clear that the tobacco industry is more powerful than health authorities. The list goes on.<\/p>\n

Attanayake makes another, pertinent, observation.\u00a0 He points out that if the Government is unable to arrest this trend, then the President would find it hard to deliver on a promise made, \u2018We will erase the term \u201cyouth unrest\u201d from the dictionary\u2019.\u00a0 A high level of alcohol consumption and widespread substance abuse do not paint a picture of a happy, contented population.\u00a0 It speaks instead of deep seated disjuncture, social fracture and frustration.<\/p>\n

While certain actions can be taken to discourage trafficking and while education about the ills of substance abuse can help, these necessary but not sufficient measures.\u00a0 If it is not one drug it will be another.\u00a0 Substitutes will be found.\u00a0 And the abuse of equivalents would point to the same issues not being addressed.\u00a0\u00a0 We are not talking about some disgruntled young (or old) people resorting to the easy (but temporary) memory-erasing method of losing their minds.\u00a0 Substance abusers are not just a curse to themselves but to their families and communities as well.<\/p>\n

So far the Government has totally failed to gain any noticeable ground in what can be called a war on drugs.\u00a0 This Government did the unthinkable; it comprehensively defeated the LTTE<\/span><\/a>, widely described as \u2018invincible\u2019.\u00a0 In this case, no one says the war on drugs cannot be won.\u00a0 And yet, the drug barons continue to reap in profits while poisoning the country\u2019s youth and wrecking families and communities.<\/p>\n

Is it a problem of legislation? No.\u00a0 The laws exist.\u00a0 Enforcement?\u00a0 We have to conclude at this point, \u2018yes!\u2019<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a problem of enforcement, it means enforcement authorities are inept or have adopted a \u2018look the other way\u2019 policy, catching someone here and someone there but leaving the big guys alone.\u00a0 In a country where all state institutions are heavily politicized, we have to conclude that these inabilities can be sourced to political interference.<\/p>\n

In the case of the Pakistani national who embarrassed the Prime Minister<\/span><\/a>, the \u2018point-politician\u2019 was a member of a local government authority from the Premier\u2019s hometown, Gampola.\u00a0 That\u2019s a lower-rung politician but a politician nevertheless.\u00a0\u00a0 Are there others?\u00a0 Any parliamentarians?\u00a0 Ministers?<\/p>\n

We know for a fact that there were high-ups and indeed \u2018very high-ups\u2019 that helped the LTTE.\u00a0 There were enemies within. It has to be the same with drug trafficking.\u00a0 It\u2019s a dangerous business.\u00a0 Operators need insurance and the best insurance policies come from powerful political personalities.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of money in this business and politicians need a lot of money.<\/p>\n

Attanayake\u2019s politics aside, the man is articulating a general public concern.\u00a0 Something needs to be done.<\/p>\n

President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> whenever he speaks to school children or speaks at school functions underlines the importance of values.\u00a0 He speaks of wholesome education.\u00a0 He speaks of wholesome lifestyles.\u00a0 The drug menace that is gripping the country is at odds with his stated vision.\u00a0 Indeed, it is threatening to rip to shreds his overall stated master plan.<\/p>\n

The nation awaits some concrete action on both the symptom (substance trafficking and abuse) and the malady (discontent of one kind or another).<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nNo Takers For The War On Drugs? - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/no-takers-for-the-war-on-drugs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No Takers For The War On Drugs? - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/no-takers-for-the-war-on-drugs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-04T18:33:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-11T06:31:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/no-takers-for-the-war-on-drugs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/no-takers-for-the-war-on-drugs\/\",\"name\":\"No Takers For The War On Drugs? 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