LSD and other drugs are killing our young

We are shocked by a report published by The Daily Star yesterday that describes how, the drug Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) has been smuggled into Bangladesh from the Netherlands since 2017, using the government's postal service. The police department was able to unearth this information only after a Dhaka University (DU) student committed suicide after taking the drug, according to his friends. But what has the police been doing since 2017 and why are we hearing about this drug's presence in Bangladesh after so long and only after the much-publicised death of a university student?

That there are currently three syndicates in the country who are involved in selling this highly hallucinatory drug that causes loss of appetite, tremors, delusions, distortion in one's sense of time and identity, paranoia, severe depression or psychosis and suicidal tendencies, among other side effects, is extremely disturbing. These syndicates bring this drug from Europe as blotting papers stashed inside books so that they look like postal stamps or colour paper. We are relieved to know that the Detective Branch (DB) of the police has arrested three members of one of the LSD syndicates and sent them to prison. Also, DB has found 650 users who used to be customers of these three jailed drug dealers.

LSD trade is not a new phenomenon in our country. Requesting not to be named, a high official from DB said that they have information about two other syndicates involved in the LSD trade in Bangladesh. We're puzzled by the fact that the police are claiming that they have spotted LSD in the country for the first time—a DS report published on May 27, 2021 highlights that the chief chemist and forensic head of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) said that they had earlier seized LSD in September, 2019 from the capital's Kafrul area.  Young people are being lured by the traders of these drugs and can easily become addicted to them leading to tragic consequences. The government must go after the kingpins who control these syndicates. Exemplary punishment must be given to these individuals who are still out of the purview of the police regardless of who they are connected to. At the same time, it is counterproductive to treat those addicted as criminals instead of victims which they are. Many such addicts suffer from mental health issues that have to be treated medically and through counselling. Proper rehabilitation services for them are required. Family, friends, colleagues and other acquaintances have to treat them like human beings, not as pariahs who have to be avoided at any cost. While those who bring in these drugs must be brought to book, the factors that lead young people to become users must be identified and removed so that the demand for these drugs can be eliminated, automatically nullifying supply.