Please don’t refuse bail to those merely in possession of drugs and keep them under court’s surveillance

Editorial Desk :
The US President Joe Biden on October 6 (Thursday) pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, a move that senior administration officials said would involve thousands of Americans charged with that crime. As part of this, Biden also encouraged governors to take similar steps to pardon convicted for simple marijuana possession charges, a move that would potentially affect many thousands in prison for being in possession of the drug.
Bangladesh, a country that does not even produce narcotics, faces serious threat due to its geographical location at the centre of Asia’s three main drug trafficking regions — the Golden Triangle, the Golden Crescent and the Golden Wedge. It’s now a national crisis. It appears to have gone beyond control. This crazy drug is available everywhere — from capital city Dhaka to remote villages, from slams to posh areas. Powerful men are connected with big business of millions of taka. Police themselves are in this business. The government is not in a position to control entering the drugs or punish the money makers from drug business.
The use of drug has penetrated the society’s all strata — students and professionals, the poor and the rich.
Our judges have to realise that the courts cannot stop the great harm being done to the society, especially vulnerable young ones simply by sending jobless young ones to prison. These jobless young ones deserve sympathy instead of condemning by punishing them while we all know that the big traders are not be touched by law.
Our moral outrage most often is shown wrongly on wrong persons. The government and the anti-drug huge establishments are to be held responsible for widespread trading of drugs and ruining our frustrated young ones as drug addicts. Who does not know the border between Cox’s Bazar and Myanmar is the biggest point of entry of drugs into Bangladesh. A prominent former army officer was killed point blank by organised police
officers. His fault was he was investing privately how the business of drugs flourishing in Cox’s Bazar and which drug lords work there.
Drugs are being smuggled in the country, mainly using it as a transit. Law enforcers have recently arrested about 22,000 drug abusers and peddlers (mostly poor and unemployed) during the countrywide anti-narcotics drives but none among them are the ruling party leaders and their influential friends, who are named as ‘godfathers’ for smuggling yaba and other illegal drugs through Cox’s Bazar. They (godfather) always remain beyond touch. Allegedly they have strong connections with high officials and the ruling party leaders.
But sadly, the poor and unemployed young peddlers land in jails as if they should be harshly punished for the heinous crime. The persons in possession should have been released on humanitarian ground and also for the failure of the government to create jobs. The government is too happy sending unemployed young men and women to foreign countries for humiliating jobs.
They ask every government to take workers from Bangladesh because they are the cheapest without any sense of shame. Why jobs should not be created in the country?
We strongly feel that for mere possession of drugs the young ones should not be confined to imprisonment without showing human consideration for the poor economy of the country and incompetence of the government. They should be released on bail to give them a chance to try to find any other way of earning livelihood at home and others who are dependent on them.