A COMMUNITY APPROACH

IT is paradoxical that while Pakistan's fight against narcotics has been
cited as a success story by the United Nations, the incidence of drug abuse
in the country is on the rise. Currently, there are close to three million
drug addicts in the country with a sizable number being added every month.

The actual number of people affected by drug addiction may be even greater.

Besides the narcotics abusers themselves, their families also suffer as
they must deal with social stigma and the financial cost and mental agony
of coping with an addict in their midst.

The lack of facilities for the rehabilitation of drug addicts speaks of the
apathetic attitude of the state and the people towards the plight of the
addicts.

It is then a welcome move that residents in certain localities of
Faisalabad have come together to form a 50-member committee in an attempt
to halt drug-peddling in their area. Efforts towards creating a drug-free
society cannot be undertaken by the Anti-Narcotics Force and other law
enforcement agencies alone.

Unless there is a community-based effort towards solving the problem,
little headway can be made towards removing this scourge.

Knowing their locality well, it would be fairly simple for residents to
keep a watchful eye on certain spots where drug-pushing takes place.

They would also be aware of who the drug peddlers are, and as a committee,
could use ways and means to strongly discourage them from their nefarious
activity.

In fact, by accepting that this problem exists and would grow if not
countered now, committees of this sort would also become more helpfully
responsive to the hardships of the addicts and their families and may take
action consisting of a series of rehabilitative steps towards the cure of
drug abusers.