The National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB) has revealed that the highest number of drug-addicted schoolchildren in the country is reportedly from the Western Province.
The NDDCB further noted that Colombo District records the highest number of cases, with children from low-income communities in areas such as Grandpass, Thotalanga, Slave Island, Angulana, Keselwatte, Panadura, Dehiwala, Mount Lavinia, Hikkaduwa, and several other locations being more vulnerable to drug abuse.
In addition, it is reported that certain areas in the Kandy district have also been identified as areas where school children are most likely to be addicted to drugs.
The NDDCB also stated that the Gampaha, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Galle, Ratnapura and Kalutara districts have also been identified as risky.
Peer influence has been identified as a major factor influencing school children’s use of drugs.
In particular, the lack of implementation of drug policies in schools, and the lack of interest of principals and zonal education offices in enforcing the school drug prevention policy have also been identified as factors that have led to school children turning to drugs, NDDCB said.
In addition, environmental factors such as stressful situations in broken family environments, neglect of children, the prevalence of drugs in the family and the area, poverty and malnutrition have also been identified as factors that have an impact.
In order to prevent school children and youth from turning to drugs, the NDDCB has set plans to implement programs through 6 streams, localizing them according to international standards.
Accordingly, the NDDCB implements its initiatives through several streams, including school-based, youth-based, family-based, workplace-based, and community-based drug prevention education and training, as well as environmental initiatives, policy formulation, and media-based awareness programs.
It is also stated that the NDDCB is implementing programs aimed at conducting screening tests, conducting assessment tests and referring children who are currently addicted to drugs for continuous study through counseling, treatment, rehabilitation and aftercare services for prevention.
Meanwhile, the NDDCB is also working to rescue school students who have resorted to drug use, and for this purpose, school counselors have been trained to act in three steps after a screening test.
Accordingly, counseling and intervention for low-risk students is carried out in the first step.
The second step is to identify students with medium risk and high-risk students and refer them to the officials of the NDDCB.
As a final step, the NDDCB further stated that they will undergo treatment at the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board’s Youth Treatment Center and be directed to return to school education or vocational education as they wish.
Meanwhile, the police have taken 206 children into custody for drug offenses between January 1 and August 31 of this year.
The Police Media Division stated that 39 of these children have been placed on probation.
The Police have arrested three individuals for introducing children to drugs, and the Police Media Division further stated that the Sri Lanka Police has conducted 15,652 programs in schools and related institutions to prevent children from turning to drugs.
