Editorial Desk :
Abuse of intoxicating drugs, especially Yaba, by the young generation of Bangladesh has increased in recent days to such an extent that it seems near impossible to control the situation as drug lords are getting patronisation from influential quarters. The number of drug addicts in the country is around 1.75 crore. Of them 1.5 crore are regular addicts. The addicts spend Taka 1 lakh crore yearly to buy their drugs, according to available information. It makes one-fifth of the country’s budget. Drugs are the mother of crimes. The number of fatal crimes in and around Cox’s Bazar – the epicenter of Yaba trade – has alarmingly increased nowadays centering on the business. Members of most families in the country’s southeastern district, in particular Teknaf and Ukhiya, are directly or indirectly involved in the lucrative Yaba business, the Director General of Rapid Action Battalion Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun told a meeting of a Parliamentary Standing Committee.
There is no way to deny that our young generation gets victimised by the drug culture. Now thousands are involved to roll the multi-billion dollar illegal business. At present, the Yaba addiction has spread extensively. A large number of students of colleges and universities reportedly take Yaba on a regular basis. Though the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Home Ministry suggested making dope tests mandatory for students before their admission and final examination in higher educational institutions, no step has been taken in this regard in the last two years. There was a proposal for establishing a separate institution like BSTI for conducting dope tests. The proposal is now in the deep fridge. The Department of Narcotic Control has made a draft of ‘Dope test rules 2021’ and sent it to the Law Ministry for vetting. But it is yet to see daylight.
The RAB launched an operation titled “War against drug” two years back, and now we find the war totally futile as the narcotics trade has rather flourished, neither abolished nor curbed. About 272 people were killed in “gunfights” during the operation. And nobody knows whether the war is still on. Could the drugs business flourish without political or administrative backing, we must find answers to such questions. Does the government have any long-term plan or strategy to check the menace? Without sealing the drug entry points at borders, conducting raids in cities or killing petty peddlers to stop Yaba smuggling will not bring any good result. The high-ups would have to stop patroniation of the illegal trade by elements linked to politics.
Many unemployed young ones find to be carriers of Yaba as a means surviving. The police are happy sending them to jail but drug lords are doing their business undisturbed. This is the way the government tackles problems by protecting the main criminals. As jobs are not created for the young ones, they are forced to get involved in drug trafficking and ruining their lives as drug addicts.
