Bangladesh Drug Case Study

Bangladesh , a small country located in South East Asia, despite not being a major producer or consumer of narcotics has become a major trafficing route due to its geographical placement. Bangladesh is situated in the central point between the ‘golden triangle’ (Myanmar, Thailand and Laos) and the ‘golden crescent’ (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) in terms of geographical location. Due to being surrounded on all sides by major drug producing countries and its porous land, sea and air border it is increasingly becoming a major trafficking route for drugs.

Existing Laws on Narcotics Possesion

The country had no adequate and enabling law in the eighties to handle the sordid condition created by drug abuse and the related issues.The Government of Bangladesh enacted the Narcotics Control Act in 1990 repealing all the colonial laws with a view to encounter the drug problem. While the possession cultivation and distribution of Grade A drugs such as Heroin, Cocaine etc is strictly punishable by law and might also fetch a death sentence, however in the same situation cannabis can only draw a maximum 3 years of imprisonment.

How Bangladesh tackles the drug situation:

With surmounting drug problem peaking in the 90’s, Bangladesh ratified several international conventions to fight against drug abuse. In 1990 a separate Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) was opened under the Ministry of Home Affairs and it is the Focal Point for the activities related to drug demand and supply reduction. DNC is, in fact, responsible for a wide range of activities including research, preventive education, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts and law enforcement.It relies on number of government agencies like BGB, Police, Customs, and the Min...

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... now due to its politcial and economic limitations but it is on its way to becoming a middle income country by 2021 and depenalizing marijuana posession is something it can think about in the future when it becomes economically robust.

Conclusion :

The idea of decriminlazing marijuana and other illicit drugs sounds pragmatic by looking at the millions of deaths that was created by the undergraound drug market and gangsterism. Regulation instead of prohibition sounds like a smart idea and must be true for countries who are equipped enough to facilitate such regulated markets into their well managed economies but for Bangladesh, experimentation with liberal laws and regulated markets seems like a unfeasible idea for now. The country must strengthen its adminstrative, judiciary and public health system and then move on to experimentation with liberal drug policies.