Narcotics have been here for a long time and with every year increase its clout. No matter which sector one may mention narcotics is present and the battle against narcotics is on but it isn’t losing. Most take a rather altruistic position and assume that social goodwill is missing hence the crisis. Perhaps it’s this simplistic analysis that is also responsible for the escalation of the crisis with no end in sight. We aren’t doing the right thing because we aren’t doing the right analysis of causes. We think that all it needs is a magic bullet from somewhere to kill the beast of narcotics. The bad news, it has overcome the entire arsenal of the world and is doing fine.
Drugs have entered every society and for many reasons taken off. The only reason people produce drugs is to make money and addiction is the greatest consumption guarantee. There are many causes of addiction and it’s also not limited to social maladjustment or inability to cope with the normal traumas of life.
There are however two certainties. The peddlers come from all sections of society and even age with a large tract of youngsters involved in it, The rise of the youth gangs are directly linked to it so when barely adolescents are involved, one must assume that’s gone universal.
The scale of the drug sector in Bangladesh is awesome with 7 million consumers that is almost 5% of the total population. That means a huge network and investment is in place and as an economic sector is too big to be affected by law and order interventions. Once, it was thought that “crossfire killings would bring it down but as data shows, the impact is not even felt. Apart from that many of the law enforcers are themselves involved in its trading. As for consumers, they come from all scales and levels of society.
Most research now thinks that certain mental conditions make people predisposed towards addiction. However, certain other facilitation factors enhance the chances of becoming an addict. As each version of the new drugs are potent than ever, long term addiction is more possible than ever before. And that is almost a guarantee of a regular drug customer.
It’s this economic aspect of drug marketing that needs to be addressed. Society will not improve and drug consumption will continue. But the scale of consumption may be controlled if economic activities are greater, profitable and has normal access, more people will be interested in money making from them rather than participating in the drug economy. Every country that has tried harsh measures like cross fire has failed so the only option is to make it not worth dealing in it moneywise. Looking at the narcotics issue as an economic one rather than a social and law enforcement problem has many positives. The antidote to the drug economy is a new economy that makes it not just unsafe but less profitable too. Neither killing peddlers nor psycho counseling will make a dent as it hasn’t till date. The answer is higher economic activity that kills the motivation to deal in drugs. It’s the economy that matters.
