A considerable number of Sri Lankan university students are using or are addicted to drugs, and addiction accounts for the majority of male students who drop out of their degrees, a senior psychiatrist has said.
Professor Amila Isuru, Professor in Psychiatry and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, made the assessment at a media discussion held under the “A Nation United” national anti-drug programme, in a session focused on addiction among university students and young people.
“If we look at the students who drop out of our university because they are unable to continue their courses, for about 70% to 80% of the male students, that situation has arisen due to addiction to some form of drug,” he said.
Why users keep using
Professor Isuru pushed back on the idea that continued drug use is driven by pleasure, arguing that the mechanism holding people in addiction is the discomfort of stopping.
“Any individual continues to use drugs not because of the so-called pleasure they claim to derive from narcotics or any other reason. They continue using drugs to manage the addiction withdrawal symptoms that occur when they stop using drugs,” he said.
That need to suppress withdrawal symptoms is what keeps users — students among them — returning to narcotics, he said.
Targeting the young
He warned that dealers are working deliberately on schoolchildren and university students.
“In Sri Lanka at present, drug dealers are making an immense effort to get our children used to drugs,” he said.
Research carried out in both the school and university systems has identified a pattern of young people being introduced to drugs and becoming habituated to them, he added. “Research done in schools shows that there is a certain tendency to get students used to drugs and become accustomed to drugs. We also observe a similar trend of students in universities being drawn into drug use.”
Context
“A Nation United” is the government’s national anti-narcotics campaign, under which state institutions, schools and universities have been directed to establish drug prevention committees. Enforcement operations under the programme have included a haul of more than 10 tonnes of narcotics destroyed in Kandy in June.
The government has also been weighing harsher penalties, with a steering council examining the death penalty for drug offences earlier this month.
The dropout figure lands alongside a warning from Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya in Parliament the same day that boys leaving school after the age of 16 is a growing problem, and that children who leave education early are more exposed to harmful influences.
Ada Derana was the only verified newsroom to carry the remarks at the time of writing.
