Editorial
Alarming drug abuse
Rev up containment measures
WHILE we are kept busy with a raft of issues and non-issues; incipiently, the curse of drug addiction has reached an alarming proportion. This conclusion is borne out through concerns voiced by international organisations like the United Nations and World Health Organisation (WHO) lately. The magnitude of drug abuse in South Asia in general has critically increased with Bangladesh figuring as one of the most vulnerable countries.
The incidence of drug abuse in our country can be gauged from a simple statistic that ten percent out-patients to hospitals come with addiction related complications involving heroin, marijuana and phensedyl. The average age of drug addicts being 22 we are talking in terms of hundreds of thousands writhing under the spell of drugs. They may turn into lost generations if we do not apply brake on the unfolding menace.
The reasons are all too known for such social aberration; only that systematic efforts are lacking in using various research results on the subject. Peer pressure, curiosity and excitement, dejection, family problems and mental stresses drive the impressionable groups into the clutch of addiction. Going by a police version in the last two-three years more teens have been arrested for using drugs than ever before.
The priority remedial strategy should include effectively curbing of easy access to drugs and opening up of guidance and counselling wings at educational institutions and ward levels. This needs to be complemented by setting up rehab centres for the chronic cases.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments