Pill popping in school the bane of kids

By Lakna Paranamanna
The use of illegal drugs among school goers has been widely discussed at public debates, in the past few years. According to recent reports this habit is now on the increase, with a large number of Sri Lanka’s school going population, becoming addicted to the habit.

It is reported that apart from the commonly used drugs, even several pharmaceutical drugs including pain killers, syrups prescribed for coughs and other forms of tablets are being misused by school goers.

The Bottom Line spoke to the National Child Protection Authority Chairman (NCPA), Jagath Wellawatte about this rising scandal and about the measures the NCPA is taking to prevent innocent children from being part of it.

He said that the discovery of the addiction of pharmaceutical drugs among school children had not been made through statistical data off any research or survey. “This scandal surfaced as a result of detecting the root cause of many abnormal and aggressive behaviours reported among children.”

He said that several cases were reported in the past few years regarding aggressive conduct among students, especially among teenagers, where some cases were proved to be abnormal. He quoted one such incident, where students of higher grades had bullied junior students and collected ransom money. This ransom collection had taken place in the school premises, especially during the interval periods, and also among students who travelled in school vans. “It had been conducted in an organised manner where the bullies entered the junior classes with their faces covered, so that no one could identify them, even if there are complaints,” he added.

NCPA takes action
The NCPA has now initiated a programme to minimise the spread of drug usage and to raise awareness among the students as well as the parents and the teachers.

“Our focus is to concentrate on controlling and minimising such activities among the students. We are mainly planning to implement the programme in three steps,” Wellawatte informed. The first step in the programme is to conduct a joint venture with the collaboration of over 20 institutions which deal with or relate to the usage of drugs, pharmaceuticals and issues regarding children.

“Controlling this menace cannot be dealt with by the NCPA alone. This is why we decided to work in collaboration with several other establishments involved in these areas, and thereby implement the programme effectively,” he remarked. He added that this would also help to introduce necessary punitive action against guilty parties.

The institutions that will be joining hands in this collaborative programme aimed at preventing drug misuse, will include the Drug Control Board, Police Narcotic Bureau, Women’s and Children’s Bureau, National Drug Prevention Unit, Narcotic Bureau, The Education Ministry and the Department of Probation and Childcare.

The second step of the programme will be the awareness campaigns which would be conducted among the principals, teachers, parents, students and children.

According to findings, most of the incidents reported were not carried out by a single child, but by groups of students, mostly friends. “Another fact that surfaced from our investigations was that most of the cases regarding drugs were reported from the leading school in Colombo, as well as other big schools in the main cities. So we have now focussed conducting these programmes in the schools in Colombo, since they need to be given more attention in this regard”, he said.

The awareness campaigns will be based mainly on how to identify a child who has got into the habit of taking drugs, and what measures should be taken afterwards. “If the child is using drugs there will be definite changes in his or her behaviour. If the parents, teachers and friends are not aware of these changes, they will remain unnoticed and unattended, and this would make the situation worse. So that is why we have focused on highlighting these facts during the awareness campaigns”.

What are these changes of behaviour?

• Cycles of increased energy, restlessness, and inability to sleep
  
• Sudden lag in academic work
  
• Abnormally slow movements, speech or reaction time, confusion and disorientation
  
• Sudden weight loss or weight gain
  
• Cycles of excessive sleep
  
• Progressive, severe dental problems
  

“However, to minimise and prevent this type of menace, in the long term, there should be strengthening of law enforcement against parties responsible for such acts. That is why working in collaboration with the institutions listed before is important,” explained Wellawatte. The third step of the programme would thus be to pay attention of laws which can be exercised against parties responsible for the drug menace among school children, he said.

Since neither proper research or surveys have still not been done on this subject, the NCPA says it is unable to locate sources which give access for the children into these drugs.

Categories
There are mainly two categories of drugs which are issued by a pharmacy; Over the Counter (OTC) drugs and Prescription Only (PO) drugs. The OTC drugs are medications which can be purchased at a pharmacy without a prescription by a doctor. These include drugs like vitamins, paracetamols, and aspirins. The PO drugs can be purchased at a pharmacy only if the customer presents a doctor’s prescription. These drugs which the school children have got addicted to, also belong to the PO category. Wellawatte added that the pharmacy licence can be cancelled in pharmacies which issue drugs without prescriptions. “The institutions which we would be collaborating with, would be conducting regular operations to identify the law breakers,” he added.

He also added that during the discussions with the collaborating institutions, the NCPA has discovered that a national policy has been already implemented regarding the illegal usage of drugs.

Obligation of parents
“It is also the duty of the parents to be more informed about where their child goes, and what type of friends he/ she is associating,” pointed out Wellawatte. Most of the schools in which such cases have been reported, are attended by children from well-to-do families. He remarked that most of the parents have now made it a habit to give the child enormous amounts of money, without even questioning the child as to what purpose they would be using it for. “This leaves ample space for the drag dealers to freely conduct their businesses and take innocent children as victims of their illegal business,” said Wellawatte.

He also said that the lack of communication among parents and children was also a reason for drug addiction among children to spread. “Parents are not equipped with a proper communication tool, especially when it comes to communicating with the teenagers. It is vital to build good communication relationships with one’s teenage son or daughter,” he pointed. Wellawatte added that another cause for children taking to drugs, was due to their frustration in being unable to find answers to their problems.

Results of misusing drugs

Commonly abused prescription drugs belong to one of three categories, although there are many other categories of drugs:

• Narcotic Pain Medications (Opioids): often prescribed to treat pain
  
• Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants: used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.
  
• CNS Stimulants: prescribed to treat narcolepsy and hyperactivity disorder.
  Misuse of Narcotic Pain Medications can cause:
  
• drowsiness
  
• constipation;
  
• Depress breathing, depending on the amount taken. Even a large single dose could cause severe respiratory depression and death;
  
• Interact with other drugs and are only safe to use with other drugs when under a physician’s supervision;
  
• Tolerance to the drugs so that higher doses must be taken to get the same initial effects;
  
• Physical dependence after long-term use. This means that the body adapts to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced abruptly;
  Produce withdrawal symptoms including restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhoea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps, and involuntary leg movements.
  
  Misuse of Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants can cause:
  
• Slow breathing, or slow both the heart and respiration, which can be fatal.
  
• Lead to withdrawal symptoms after prolonged use, including seizures. When a person stops using CNS depressants after a period of abusing them, the brain’s activity rebounds and can cause this condition.
  
  Misuse of CNS Stimulants can cause:
  
• irregular heartbeat
  
• Raise the body’s temperature to dangerously high levels
  
• Lead to cardiovascular failure or deadly seizures
  
• Create feelings of hostility or paranoia