IN SRILANKA: Out of the 33,566 Convicted Prisoners for year 2008, 11,065 were of Narcotic Drug related cases...!!!

11,065 persons convicted of drug abuse in 2008

by Ifham Nizam

Fifteen persons of the 650 given the death penalty were involved in narcotics trade, National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB) Executive Director K. Gamage said.

He told The Island yesterday of the 33,566 convicted prisoners for year 2008, 11,065 were of narcotic drug related cases.

The prevalence of narcotic drug related prison admissions was 58 per population of 100,000 and it was 79 per population of 100,000 for those above 14 years of age.

NDDCB Chairman D.P. Mendis P.C. said the majority convicted were for the possession of small quantities of drugs. Among them, 54.3 per cent were for heroin and 45.5 per cent for cannabis and 0.2 per cent for opium. Among the those arrested for drug offenses, 69 per cent of them were Sinhalese.

He said the total number of persons of drug related arrests were 28,162 in 2008 and 59 per cent of the arrestees were aged 30 or more, 39 per cent of them were in their twenties. The man to woman ratio of drug arrests was 51:1.

Of the drug related arrests, 62 per cent were reported from the Western Province followed by the Southern Province, 11 per cent and nine per cent in the Central Province.

The Colombo district reported 49 per cent of the drug arrest followed by the Gampaha district seven per cent and Kalutara district five per cent.

The prevalence of drug related arrests were 141 per 100,000 populations in 2008. The prevalence of drug related arrests above 14 years was 192 per population of 100,000 in 2008.

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