DRUG MENACE

An encouraging report has come about the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF)
decision to take action against those involved in supplying drugs to
students of some well-reputed educational institutes of Islamabad.
The organisation is monitoring these institutions and seeking
support from civil society for complete eradication of drugs from the
country. The organisation has warned the government that many
foreigners residing in Pakistan are involved in drug smuggling. They
could become threat for the country as they have direct links in
FATA and Afghanistan. The ANF claims that Pakistan is still a
poppy-free country, but given the resurgence of poppy cultivation in
Afghanistan, the country is facing the problem of proliferation of
drugs from Afghanistan. Drug abuse, particularly heroin addiction,
has been spreading at an alarming rate in Pakistan since the late
70s. It has now become a serious social problem, with no solution in
sight. The situation becomes more serio! us when we see an increase
of 100,000 addicts per year. These drug addicts are affecting nearly
20 million dependents and family members with psychological, social
and economic repercussions.

There is no quick solution for the control of drug addicts. Drug
addicts resort to crime for generating income for the purchase of
narcotics. Pakistan is today notorious for many things, but during
the last 20 years, drug production and addiction has increasingly
become one of them. The drug addiction issue is often overshadowed by
many other human development problems like poverty, illiteracy and
lack of basic healthcare. The result is that drug abuse is rapidly
growing in Pakistan in general, and South Asia in particular. While
Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Maldives all suffer from this, Pakistan
is the worst victim of the drug trade in South Asia. It has the
largest heroin consumer market. Pakistan became a major exporter of
heroin in the 1980s, following the influx of Afghan refugees
escaping the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The major
consequence of this has been a significant increase in domestic
consumption of heroin in Pakistan. Heroin was ! a drug which was
virtually unknown in the country until the late 1970s. It is
estimated that about 50 tonnes of opium are smuggled into Pakistan
for processing heroin for domestic use. Almost 80 percent of the
opium processed in Pakistan comes from neighbouring countries.
Widespread drug abuse may be indicated by the fact that almost five
percent of the adult population is using drugs in Pakistan. Europe
and the US are destinations for the higher grade of heroin exported
from Afghanistan. During the Afghan jihad the drug business
flourished and it was reported on numerous occasions that drug barons
were involved in the funding of the Afghan jihad from its cultivation
to its final destination. The drug trade is still continuing in
Afghanistan under the present set-up and there are also reports of
some Karzai officials' involvement in this business.

The most common drug taken by students is hashish. Highly significant
positive correlations existed between drug abuse with parents'
marital status as divorced or separated. It requires concerted and
continuous efforts by the government, NGOs and political and
religious leaders. There is a need for a population-based survey to
determine drug abuse among the youth. Parents, teachers and public
health agencies should be mobilised against this epidemic among the
youth. The ANF decision is, no doubt, a welcome step and its
jurisdiction should be expanded to all over the country. Students of
some other noted educational institutions are also involved in this
slow poisoning business. Similar action should also be taken across
the board in order to rid our new generation of this menace.