Identification of causes and effects of drug usage in Kuchchaveli DSD of Trincomalee District

Abstract

Introduction Drug trafficking is a mass level business operations in the contemporary world, irrespective of developed and developing countries. Drug usage has become a major threat to the global economy, in terms of medical and welfare cost. In addition, this is a major factor for determining the ratio of birth and death. According to Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, (2017);F the alcohol and drug usage are important risk factors for early death. Approximately, 11.4 million people die prematurely, because of this habit annually. Further, over 350,000 people in the world die per annum, consuming overdoses of alcohol and illicit drugs. Similarly, in Sri Lanka; annual death record due to the usage of multiple drug varieties is a remarkable amount, such as tobacco-15,521, alcohol6,150 and illicit drug consumptions-748. Use of Psychoactive substances (or Drugs) is a known phenomenon in Sri Lanka, since the ancient time, which was traditionally used for medicinal purposes in the ‘Ayurvedic’ system of medicine until recent times. With the gradual development of domestic tourism, it was used for recreational purposes, especially cannabis and opium. Thereafter, its usage exceeded the limit, with the arrival of synthetic and potent drugs (heroin) into the country in early 1980’s onwards, among the youth (NDDCB-2018). Eventually, Sri Lanka has become a one of the target markets and is used as a platform for transmitting drugs to South Asian and Australian countries by mass level drug dealers. Gradually, this has become an acute social problem in Sri Lanka, obstructing individual’s development and sustainability of our nation. 81,156 persons have been arrested, due to usage of drugs in the year 2017, which is 2% increase compared to the previous year (NDDCB, 2018). Sri Lankan Government spends approximately LKR 212 billions to overcome multifarious health related issues, caused by the usage of various drugs. Moreover, a death toll of 47,000 people were recorded in 2017 (ADIC, 2017). According to the statistical Handbook of Trincomalee District (2017), approximately 1,151 people were addicted with drug usage in the Kuchchaveli DSD. This has become a recurring issue in the study area