It was around 1pm on Tuesday when a group of five children were found sitting on the rail track near Kawran Bazar, their movement slightly uneasy and motive clearly dubious. Upon a closer inspection, the mystery was solved.
The boys, aged between 10 and 15 years, were smoking cannabis and were already under the effect of the drug when this correspondent met them.
“What do you want?” one of them barked. “If you have any business here,” he continued, “do it or get lost. Don’t disturb us. We are just warming ourselves in the heat of the sun.”
These children, it transpired, do not only take drugs themselves but also are involved in drug trafficking. Many children like them, mostly with no homes of their own, are exposed to a similar environment where illegal drugs are used, possessed and trafficked.
Security officials say using children for such activities is a favourite technique of the drug peddlers because they carry drugs in small quantities – thereby less risky – and are adept at dodging police if necessary.
Fourteen-year-old Sajal, who lives at a slum nearby, said he got involved in selling drugs because it was profitable. “I can buy a packet of cannabis for Tk20 and sell it at Tk30-40.”
Police often fail to take action against these children because of the quantity of drugs they carry, said to Raihanuddin Khan, an officer of Rapid Action Battalion. “The quantity is often too small to be reckoned with. But we always try to arrest those employing and using them.”
The number of teenagers involved in drug use and trafficking is rising across the country. According to an estimate of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), children made up 4.31% of the drug addicts in 2012 while the figure was 1.1% the year before.
“Drug-endangered children are mainly those coming from low economic backgrounds or under the influence of their peers,” said Ariful Haque, a counsellor at the Mukti Rehabilitation Centre, an organisation working with drug addicts.
“Those belonging to the higher stratum of society start taking drug primarily out of interest, and then gradually get accustomed to it.”
According to a DNC report, one of the reasons behind children taking up drugs is the lure of easy money while for young addicts the motivation emanates mainly from distresses. About 53.27% of youths in the country used drugs in 2012 while the number was 44.26% in 2011.
In this regard, psychiatrist Dr Mohit Kamal said it was necessary for families to take care of their children to prevent them from resorting to drug and substance use.
“The government has also a role to play here, especially in case of children from low economic backgrounds, in uprooting the causes leading them to drugs.”