BATTLE AGAINST DRUGS

On the first International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking of the new century, Pakistan is eliciting a mixed response
to its fight against narcotics.

There is good reason for this. While Pakistan has won international
plaudits for curtailing opium production at home, the number of drug
abusers in the country is rising by an alarming seven per cent a year.
There are approximately five million drug abusers - 1.5 million of
whom are heroin addicts - in the country and between 25 to 30 million
people whose lives are adversely affected by the addiction of their
relatives.

Peer pressure at school, societal taboos, economic frustrations and
lack of healthy recreational outlets are among the major reasons why
people, especially the youth, are succumbing to the lure of addictive
drugs. No doubt Pakistan has strong anti-drug policies and legislation
in place. However, it appears to be losing its battle against
narcotics on at least two fronts.

First, the law enforcement agencies have failed to check trafficking
from Afghanistan that is the world's second largest producer of opium.

Second, government attempts to create awareness about substance abuse
have largely been shoddy and unsuccessful.

Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has the Taliban government's tacit
support. More or less a pariah state in the eyes of the world
community, Afghanistan's desperate poverty has seen the cultivation of
the poppy as a major cash crop and narcotics production as perhaps the
largest source of income for the country.

This is an area where other countries, especially those bordering
Afghanistan, including Pakistan and Iran, must engage the Taliban in
serious negotiations in a bid to stop drug production and cross-border
smuggling.

Illegal drugs from Afghanistan pass through Iran and Pakistan on their
way to Turkey and western markets.

Unless Afghan poppy growers are provided with similar incentives that
led the majority of Pakistan's poppy farmers to abandon the
cultivation of the crop, it is difficult to expect narcotics
production in Afghanistan to register an appreciable decrease.
Currently, in Pakistan, drugs that enter the country are in large
quantities, but according to one estimate, barely 20 per cent of the
smuggled amount is intercepted. This has led to wide distribution of
different drugs in the country.

The second aspect of the problem that needs urgent government
attention is the lack of public awareness of the hazards of substance
abuse. Recently, the Punjab Anti-Narcotics Force announced the
formation of a task force consisting of representatives of the excise,
health and education departments with a view to disseminating
information about the dangers of drugs.

This is a wise step that should be emulated by other
provinces.

The lethal effects of drug abuse have hardly been subjects of public
debate, and until now, families of narcotics consumers have shied away
from acknowledging the addiction in their midst.

Shunned by society, drug abusers have had practically no institution
to turn to for help. There are few detoxification centres, and even
fewer rehabilitation homes where they could be helped by qualified
staff to kick their habit and try to transform themselves into useful
members of society.

The authorities must remember that as long as there is a demand for
narcotics in the country, no amount of vigilance or law enforcement is
likely to see a decrease in the number of substance abusers.