The government is planning to introduce home drug testing kits through pharmacies, enabling parents to personally test their children for drug use as part of a comprehensive national strategy to combat drug abuse.
The proposal was discussed during a meeting of the ‘Ratam Ekata’ National Steering Committee for Eradicating the Drug Menace, chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat.
During the meeting, the President stressed the need for all relevant institutions to work together under a coordinated national action plan to eliminate the drug menace. He also instructed each institution to submit progress reports on the responsibilities and programmes assigned to them at the committee’s next meeting.
Special emphasis was placed on preventing drug use among schoolchildren. Officials revealed that 225 awareness programmes targeting teachers and students have already been conducted, while anti-drug student groups have also been established at universities.
The President further directed the establishment of a committee led by the Ministry of Education to coordinate anti-drug initiatives within the school system and oversee a nationwide survey on the prevalence of drug use among schoolchildren.
The meeting also reviewed progress on several legislative and institutional reforms, including new laws to expedite the destruction of seized narcotics, improve the management of court exhibits through an automated system, and decentralize laboratory facilities to reduce delays in drug testing.
Officials said draft legislation on the rehabilitation of drug addicts has been finalized and will be published in the Government Gazette shortly.
In addition, discussions focused on strengthening maritime operations to curb drug trafficking, enhancing the operational capacity of the Police Narcotics Bureau and the Government Analyst’s Department, and introducing legal amendments to facilitate the confiscation of vehicles, including multi-day fishing vessels, used in drug trafficking operations.
