Deadly Yaba trade must be stopped

AS peddling of toxic drugs is a highly profitable business, many powerful and wealthy people are found involved in this trade. These people can neither be arrested nor brought to justice due to their links with the high-ups in the government. I am talking about Yaba which is among the top selling drugs in the country. That is why abuse of Yaba is on the rise.

Consumption of Yaba pills per year in Bangladesh is around 300 million which is worth about Tk 74 billion. The average price of the pill is Tk 250 which means over eight hundred thousand pills are consumed every day. According to another statistics, dominance of Yaba in the drug world is unrivalled and 60-70 per cent of rehab patients in the country are Yaba addicts.

These innocuous looking tablets are easy to hide. The law enforcing agencies however can bring drug abuse down to a certain level but cannot eliminate it. We need to create awareness among the people to get rid of this drug menace. If we fail to save our young generation form Yaba addiction, it will ultimately lead to a state of chaos and lawlessness in society. The top notches of drug trade should be arrested. Otherwise no matter how desperately we try to eradicate the Yaba abuse, it will continue unabated.

Sakibul Alam

Gopibagh, Dhaka