By Skandha Gunasekera
United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Tharaka Balasuriya asserted that the Government and authorities must reveal the identities of the politicians involved in the illegal drug trade so that the masses can decided on whether to elect such individuals or not.
Below are excerpts of his interview with The Sunday Morning:
What do you see as the main factor for successive governments' failure in tackling the drug menace?
I think the main thing is that there must be a political will to do so, but unfortunately, we have seen that a lot of the drug dealers carry out their nefarious activities with political patronage. This issue must be addressed.
I also think future governments must look at tackling this problem in a pragmatic way; especially their policy on alcohol. My take on it is that if there is an increase in alcohol prices or a ban on alcohol consumption, then consumers will seek out other cheaper alternatives such as dangerous drugs.
There have been recent reports of confiscated drugs finding its way back into the black market. How do you see this?
I don’t know about this, so I don’t want to comment on it.
When looking at tackling the drug menace, would it be best to address the issue of demand for drugs or the supply of drugs?
We need to address both the demand for drugs and the supply of drugs. We also need to educate the masses on the dangers of drugs – especially the youth. For example, some drugs are worse than others. If the young are educated early on, it could help them avoid drugs. But like I said before, we need to look at it in a pragmatic way. Trying to introduce something like the “mathata thitha” policy will result in people opting for cheap drugs over expensive alcohol. Alcohol and drug policies must be pragmatic and realistic.
Do you believe there are parliamentarians involved in drug racketeering? If so, why do political parties continue to nominate such corrupt individuals?
Any such politician involved in the drug trade must be exposed. When “Makanadure Madush” was arrested and interrogated, it came to light that he had connections with so many politicians, but the Government has not released any information from the investigation pointing to which politicians are involved.
Even the issue of the Bond Scam probe was similar. There were allegations that while the Bond Committee inquiries were going on there were MPs who continued to have dealings with Arjun Aloysius, but these names have not been revealed. The media revealed the names, but the Government has still not officially released the names of these MPs. Similarly, the names of all MPs connected to Madush should be released so that the people know. This way, the people know definitely who is involved in the drug trade and can decide whether to elect them or not.
What best practices from developed nations can we emulate in tackling our narcotics problem?
It has become a tendency for developed nations to legalise soft drugs such as marijuana and to take a stronger stand on hard drugs. In the US, about 50% of the states have legalised marijuana at least for medical purposes. I’m not sure if this is the best practice for Sri Lanka, but I do think that we need to look at these policies in a scientific way and not argue on an emotional basis and make arguments such as “banning alcohol because we are a Buddhist country”.
Historically, in all societies, there has been some form of intoxicant used. For example, in Sri Lanka, it was and is Raa (toddy) or betel leaf. I think we need to keep that avenue open to allow people to blow off some steam and de-stress. Bringing in laws to completely ban alcohol will not work. We have heard of people sniffing glue in third world countries because of a lack of access to alcohol.
One thing we can follow from the developed world is the techniques they use to educate the masses – especially the children and youth. We can learn and emulate these practices in Sri Lanka.
United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Tharaka Balasuriya asserted that the Government and authorities must reveal the identities of the politicians involved in the illegal drug trade so that the masses can decided on whether to elect such individuals or not.
Below are excerpts of his interview with The Sunday Morning:
What do you see as the main factor for successive governments' failure in tackling the drug menace?
I think the main thing is that there must be a political will to do so, but unfortunately, we have seen that a lot of the drug dealers carry out their nefarious activities with political patronage. This issue must be addressed.
I also think future governments must look at tackling this problem in a pragmatic way; especially their policy on alcohol. My take on it is that if there is an increase in alcohol prices or a ban on alcohol consumption, then consumers will seek out other cheaper alternatives such as dangerous drugs.
There have been recent reports of confiscated drugs finding its way back into the black market. How do you see this?
I don’t know about this, so I don’t want to comment on it.
When looking at tackling the drug menace, would it be best to address the issue of demand for drugs or the supply of drugs?
We need to address both the demand for drugs and the supply of drugs. We also need to educate the masses on the dangers of drugs – especially the youth. For example, some drugs are worse than others. If the young are educated early on, it could help them avoid drugs. But like I said before, we need to look at it in a pragmatic way. Trying to introduce something like the “mathata thitha” policy will result in people opting for cheap drugs over expensive alcohol. Alcohol and drug policies must be pragmatic and realistic.
Do you believe there are parliamentarians involved in drug racketeering? If so, why do political parties continue to nominate such corrupt individuals?
Any such politician involved in the drug trade must be exposed. When “Makanadure Madush” was arrested and interrogated, it came to light that he had connections with so many politicians, but the Government has not released any information from the investigation pointing to which politicians are involved.
Even the issue of the Bond Scam probe was similar. There were allegations that while the Bond Committee inquiries were going on there were MPs who continued to have dealings with Arjun Aloysius, but these names have not been revealed. The media revealed the names, but the Government has still not officially released the names of these MPs. Similarly, the names of all MPs connected to Madush should be released so that the people know. This way, the people know definitely who is involved in the drug trade and can decide whether to elect them or not.
What best practices from developed nations can we emulate in tackling our narcotics problem?
It has become a tendency for developed nations to legalise soft drugs such as marijuana and to take a stronger stand on hard drugs. In the US, about 50% of the states have legalised marijuana at least for medical purposes. I’m not sure if this is the best practice for Sri Lanka, but I do think that we need to look at these policies in a scientific way and not argue on an emotional basis and make arguments such as “banning alcohol because we are a Buddhist country”.
Historically, in all societies, there has been some form of intoxicant used. For example, in Sri Lanka, it was and is Raa (toddy) or betel leaf. I think we need to keep that avenue open to allow people to blow off some steam and de-stress. Bringing in laws to completely ban alcohol will not work. We have heard of people sniffing glue in third world countries because of a lack of access to alcohol.
One thing we can follow from the developed world is the techniques they use to educate the masses – especially the children and youth. We can learn and emulate these practices in Sri Lanka.