Opinion: Socioeconomic Harms of Ineffective Drug Policies and Strategies
Despite the promise of the Drug Act, hailed by UNODC as a milestone in South Asia, decades of ineffective drug control by successive governments has left the Maldives with drained resources, overcrowded prisons, demoralised families, weakened communities and strained public finances. Correctional Service data shows that nearly 80 percent of criminal convictions are drug-related, with prisons housing more than 1,100 inmates — among the highest incarceration rates in the region. Police...
