At a recent seminar on drug abuse it was pointed out that there was an estimated 1.5 million drug addicts in the country and that upto eighty per cent of them were young people ranging in age from 18 to 30 years. About five per cent of the global trafficking in drugs is routed through Bangladesh because of its geographical location, according to narcotics department officials. Phensydyl, a cough syrup, is imported in large quantities from India after its production was banned in this country. Psychiatrists attribute the spurt in substance abuse to pressure of studies, frustration, dejection, personal grief, and the easy availability of drugs and liquor. Studies have also between 70 and 80 per cent of people caught on rape charges are also drug addicts in this country and often visit brothels placing them in the high-risk category for HIV infection.
Many students start of by experimenting with drugs for fun and they include members of both sexes.
A number of girl students of the Dhaka and Jehangir Nagar universities are known to be substance addicts. According to Abul Kalam Azad, joint secretary in the economic relations division of the Bangladesh governemnt around USD 120 million worth of drugs passed through the country during the 1996-97 fiscal year. David Lockwood, UNDP representative in Bangladesh said at a workshop recently that the time has come to formulate a comprehensive policy to control unabated import and use of chemicals used for the production of narcotics from raw material. Bangladesh already has strict laws against trafficking and some years ago five Pakistani nationals were awarded the death penalty for being in possession of three kgs of heroin. But probably a bigger threat is being posed by liquor about 50,000 glallons of which are consumed in the country every day.