Awareness programmes stepped up
Educating the public, including, schoolchildren on the drug menace and drug prevention was the special focus of the ‘National Drug Prevention Week’ was launched by the Government. The weeklong programme that began on January 21 will end tomorrow.
The Inauguration ceremony on Monday was held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena at the Mulliyawalai Vidyananda Vidyalaya in Mullaitivu.
During the ceremony, the authorities also launched a toll-free telephone hotline, ‘1984’ for members of the public to report acts of drug smuggling and related crimes.
Drug prevention programmes centered on religious places and Dhamma schools too will be held today (27) as part of these efforts.
The Government Information Department also hosted a seminar on Friday, on drug prevention for schoolstudents, officials from the Presidential Secretariat, Health Ministry and journalists .
Addressing the gathering, President’s Secretary Udaya R. Seneviratne observed that while the drug menace was mostly concentrated in urban centres in the past, it has now spread to rural areas as well.
“Laws alone will not be enough to overcome this menace. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure that their loved ones do not fall prey to drugs,” he stressed.
Earlier, addressing journalists at a special media briefing, Dr Samantha Kumara Kithalawaarachchi, Director of the Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention, noted that the main targets of the national drug prevention programme were to reduce the production, transport and sale of illegal drugs by 80 percent by 2020 in comparison to 2014. The programme also aims to reduce individual alcohol consumption by 25 percent and consumption of tobacco products by 50 percent.
In order to curb the spread of illegal drugs, the focus will be on three key areas, namely drafting policies and legislation, enforcing the law and carrying out raids; treatment and rehabilitation; and prevention, he explained.
As part of these efforts, since 2015 up until 2018, Drug Prevention Committees have been established in all 25 districts, 331 divisional drug prevention committees, and 14, 022 village level drug prevention committees, it was also pointed out.