Tigers launch drive to stop drug abuse in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2004, 13:45 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have launched a concerted campaign against drug abuse and AIDS in the Mannar District, Mr. S. Thangan, deputy leader of the political division of the Liberation Tigers, said Thursday. “Drug abuse has been on the increase in this district in recent times. It will ruin the moral fabric of our society. The problem is acute here because Mannar has become a key transit point for drug smuggling between India and Sri Lanka”, Mr. Thangan told TamilNet. He is currently in Mannar to expedite the campaign.

The Liberation Tigers declared an Awareness Week against drug abuse and AIDS from Wednesday in Mannar.

“Heroin, opium and marijuana are widely available here. We will do everything possible to stop the influx and abuse of these drugs in Mannar”, the deputy leader of the LTTE’s political division said.

Mr. Thangan appealed to local and international media to support the LTTE’s campaign against drug abuse and AIDS.

He said the threat of AIDS is real in the district.

The first phase of the campaign, which began yesterday, will continue until 11 January, according to Mr. Thangan.

Students from the Jaffna University and its Vavuniya campus, members of the Tamil Eelam Health Services and the LTTE’s politicial offices in Mannar, activists from the Tamil rehabilitation Organisation and a large number of civilian volunteers are taking part in the campaign in those areas of the district controlled by the Government of Sri Lanka.