Over 230,000 schoolchildren in the Colombo District alone are addicted to drugs, according to Prisons Commissioner and Prisons Media Spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe.
He made this revelation while participating in a school awareness programme on preventing drug abuse, held yesterday (27) at Godapitiya National School in Akuressa.
“In the Colombo District of the Western Province alone, 230,982 schoolchildren are drug addicts. I am sure the Southern Province might be even worse. The South is placed number one in underworld activities,” Weerasinghe said.
He further noted that the majority of prisoners in Sri Lanka are young people, most of whom have a low level of literacy.
“There are 42 children under the age of five in prisons because of crimes committed by their mothers. If a mother is sentenced to 10 years, we allow her to stay with the child for five years. After that, they must be separated. Those are the most tragic moments I’ve ever witnessed — the child screaming for the mother, and the mother for the child. The law intervenes,” he said.
The Prisons Commissioner emphasised that the government is committed to building a drug-free nation.
Meanwhile, speaking at a separate event held in Kalutara yesterday (27), Kalutara District Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Jayantha Padmini Weerasuriya said that steps have been taken to curb drug trafficking near schools.
“We have deployed a large number of plainclothes police officers to monitor suspicious activities. When students return home, these officers observe who they associate with and where they spend time. We urge students and parents to report any suspicious behaviour near bus stops, shops, or other places after school,” DIG Weerasuriya said.
