COLOMBO, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday said his government would go ahead with the death penalty on serious drug offenders.
"There are around 300,000 drug users in the country at the moment, and this has escalated into a serious danger for the younger generation. 60 percent of 24,000 prisoners in the country have been jailed for drug related offences," Sirisena told journalists in capital Colombo.
Sri Lankan authorities, under the directive of President Sirisena, began an eight-day National Drug Prevention week, starting from June 23 in order to carry out an islandwide awareness campaign against the use of illegal drugs.
Currently, Sri Lanka has rehabilitation centers for drug users, but Sirisena said they were not equipped enough to completely help the drug addicts.
He said he was committed to eradicating drugs from the country.
Sri Lanka has in recent months launched a severe crackdown on the illegal drug trade, with several drug lords and smugglers taken into custody.
