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80 percent of construction workers in Colombo addicted to drugs

20 March 2019 09:23 pm - 6     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Almost 80 per cent of workers at construction sites in Colombo are addicted to drugs, Director Presidential Task Force on Prevention of Drugs Dr. Samantha Kitalagama said yesterday.

“There are 10,000 persons working in various construction sites in Colombo, and there are 1000 foreign workers among them. Almost 80% of them are addicted to drugs,” Dr. Kitalagama said.

He said this was revealed in recent research carried out by the intelligence units.

He said the construction workers are a group that spreads the usage of drugs. “A Construction worker after getting addicted, convince his closest friend to use drugs after some time. This usually happens when he runs out of money to buy drugs. After getting his friend to use drugs, he gets him to buy drugs and consumes together. Eventually, the second person also gets his other friends addicted. The addiction spreads this way and the society is left with a bunch of drug addicts at the end of the day,” he explained.

It has also been found out that either contractors or owners of the buildings that are being built, get the workers to consume drugs in order to get heavy work done. (Yohan Perera)


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  • BuffaloaCitizen Thursday, 21 March 2019 09:23 AM

    Please note, it is only the local construction workers who are addicted to drugs. The foreign construction workers from China

    Unchikun Thursday, 21 March 2019 09:45 AM

    Hope the drug is Panadol.

    arujuna Thursday, 21 March 2019 04:20 PM

    government should implement , compulsory drug testing at work , to reduce this , all developed countries do..

    2020 Friday, 22 March 2019 08:06 AM

    i think that is not the truth, if u say its 20%, i would believe... 80% should be too large portion....

    Dr 911 Friday, 22 March 2019 08:52 AM

    Dr based on your article, the sector must be paying well to him and his friend. Could you please share your actual sample size and statistical analysis to you claim.

    Andrew Silva Friday, 22 March 2019 09:01 AM

    Are the construction work sound? This is a alarming situation if it is true. No way can a person who is addicted to drugs can think or do the work he or she is supposed to do properly. Please take some action before our country drifts in to disaster.


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