COLOMBO : President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasized that it is essential to focus equally on both the confiscation of illegal drugs and the rehabilitation of individuals who have developed an addiction to them.
The President made these remarks on Tuesday, Nov. (25) during the second session of the ‘A Nation United’ National Steering Council, convened at the Presidential Secretariat, to eliminate the drug menace, the President’s Media Division said in a statement.
The President also pointed out that society possesses a variety of differing and occasionally opposing opinions concerning the rehabilitation of individuals who are addicted to drugs. Therefore, he emphasized the need to gather all these perspectives and formulate a new, widely acceptable plan of action.
Taking these viewpoints into account, the President stressed that a scientific, coordinated mechanism must be developed by bringing together all relevant state and non-state institutions.
Attention was also drawn to building a trained human resource pool dedicated to rehabilitation activities, the statement said.
The President instructed the Ministry of Justice to prepare a new legal framework by March next year to enable the immediate destruction of seized drugs at the location where they are confiscated. Work on this process has already commenced based on earlier directives and the President advised that the tasks be expedited, taking into account the matters discussed today.
Under the proposed legislation, a Magistrate must be summoned to the location where the drugs are seized to conduct an inspection, followed by the collection of samples by a Government Analyst. Thereafter, the seized stock may be destroyed immediately.
The President also instructed that the recruitment of permanent and temporary government analysts be expedited to fill existing vacancies in the Government Analyst’s Department, the PMD stated.
A nationwide awareness programme on the ‘Quit – A Nation United’ initiative to combat the drug crisis is scheduled for December 6 and 7, covering all District and Divisional Secretariats.
The President further directed officials to ensure that all government institutions are able to certify themselves as drug-free and called for necessary administrative measures to be put in place to achieve this target, it added.
The event was attended by Hindu, Catholic and Islamic religious leaders including Ven. Kuppiyawatte Bodhananda Nayaka Thero, , Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security Ravi Seneviratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Sampath Thuyacontha, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice Ayesha Jinasena, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Cultural and Religious Affairs W. P. Senadheera, Acting Inspector General of Police Sanjeewa Dharmaratne, government officials representing the ‘A Nation United’ National Steering Council, artists and representatives of civil society organizations.
