The drug abuse problem in Sri Lanka
Uthpala Karunathilaka
- 4 August 2023
Sri Lanka's experience in dealing with drugs of abuse and with the drug abuse problem is unique in many ways. From the sixteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century, the colonial powers regulated the use of opium as a revenue earning measure.
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Indeed, Sri Lanka's experience in dealing with drug abuse and drug abuse has unique historical aspects. During the European colonial period from the sixteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, the administration of opium was adopted as a means of generating revenue in the house of hazards. Under colonial powers such as the Portuguese, Dutch, and British, opium was introduced and controlled as a source of income through taxation and monopolies.