A senior official reveals a national crisis, with over 230,000 schoolchildren in Colombo alone addicted to drugs, naming the Southern Province as the epicenter of this youth epidemic and its link to organized crime.
A shocking report from Prisons Commissioner Jagath Weerasinghe has exposed a severe drug crisis gripping Sri Lanka’s youth. He revealed that a staggering 230,980 school students in just the Colombo District are addicted to drugs. This alarming figure highlights the rapid and widespread proliferation of substance abuse among the country’s younger generation.
Weerasinghe made these statements while addressing students at an anti-drug awareness program at the Godapitiya National School in Akuressa. He identified the Southern Province as the nation’s primary hotspot, surpassing all other regions and pushing the country deeper into this social disaster. He further emphasized a dangerous nexus, stating that the South also ranks first for underworld activities, directly linking organized crime networks to the student drug problem.
In a heartbreaking aside, the Commissioner shed light on a collateral consequence of crime, noting that several young children are currently living in prisons. He disclosed that 42 children under the age of five are incarcerated with their mothers due to the mothers’ offenses. These children are permitted to stay with their mothers until they turn five, after which they are separated, a situation Weerasinghe described as one of the saddest realities they confront. This adds a profound human cost to the nation’s law and order challenges.
