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NDDCB plans residential rehab camps for drug addicts
The camp at Gangarama temple in Peliyagoda: A time for group counselling (above) and a time to relax (left). Pix by Athula Devapriya
The National Dangerous Drug Control Board (NDDCB) will launch a community based rehabilitation programme for drug addicts in a move to curb the increasing use of illicit drugs among the youth population.
Under this initiative 50 camps that will conduct ten-day residential treatment programmes, will be setup islandwide, NDDCB Chairman Prof. Ravindra Fernando said. He said they hope to conduct two camps in each district with the exception of Colombo which needs more in view of its population.
He said already three such camps are in operation in Kalubowila, Maradana and Peliyagoda.
According to NDDCB statistics narcotic abuse is on the rise and in the first six months of 2015, 6000 kilos of cannabis and 1800 kilos of heroin were seized by law enforcement officers. The statistics also revealed that 419 drug users sought rehabilitation at treatment facilities countrywide — 65 per cent of them from the Western Province.
Recently, several media reports have also highlighted the dangerous trend of drug peddling in front of schools.
Alarmed by this, the Government has allocated Rs.150 million to target the youth of the country and educate them on the dangers of drug abuse. The de-toxication and rehabilitation camps to be conducted by the NDDCB come under this broader initiative.
The camps will come up in areas identified as hotbeds of narcotic addicts and peddlers.
NDDCB Director General K. Gamage said the camps that open to those who seek rehabilitation voluntarily will also conduct awareness programmes as well as provide counseling to empower youth to say ‘no’ to drugs.
He said hardcore drug users will be treated for withdrawal symptoms by an in-house General Practitioner.
In addition to counsellors the camps will also deploy outreach officers who will work together with area Grama Niladharis and Samurdhi officers to identify youth who are in to drugs.
NDDCB Officer, Sunil Dissanayake who is at the Gangarama temple in Peliyagoda where a camp is in operation said once the 10-day rehabilitation programme is conducted those who participated would be continuously monitored by outreach officers who will visit them to check on their progress on a monthly basis.
He said however hardcore addicts who need a longer period of treatment would be referred to one of the four rehabilitation centres in Talangama, Galle, Peradeniya and Nittambuwa
The NDCCB has also sought police assistance to keep a tab on these hardcore inmates within the premises as some of them leave the camp before the duration of the treatment course and go back to their old ways. A police contingent of around 10 personnel will guard the camps.
One-to one counselling at the camp