The Narcotics Control Ministry has not achieved the desired results as it accomplished 53 out of 67 tasks, whereas 14 projects were deferred due to shortage of funds.
Sources told Business Recorder on Wednesday that most of the projects were deferred, or cancelled, as the financial assistance from US was delayed due to diversion of funds for rehabilitation of earthquake-hit areas.
Destruction of poppy cultivation areas was delayed as the Anti-Narcotic Force (ANF) staff was buys in organising other international activities, they said. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the estimated value of narcotics business came $321 billion.
Narcotic trade impacts all aspects of human security ranging from individual health and safety to socio-economic welfare and its consequences are particularly devastating for resource-constrained countries like Pakistan, sources said.
They said that no society could remain unaffected by the disastrous consequences of illicit drug trade, and added that an estimated 200 million people, or 5 percent of global population aged between 15 and 64 years, must have consumed illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months. They said that the narcotics drugs are depressants for the central nervous system as these slow down mental activity and are stimulants for the central nervous system.
In the light of neuropathology and applied neuropathology studies, young drug abusers are up to three times more likely to suffer brain damage than those who do not use drugs, they said. They said that studies show evidence of an increased risk of brain damage associated with heroine and methadone use, which may be highest in youth.
Damaged nerve cells were identified in the key areas of the brain involved in learning, memory and emotional wellbeing and the brains of these young drug abusers showed significantly higher levels of two key proteins associated with brain damage.
Drug abuse can lead to a build-up of proteins, which cause severe nerve cell damage and death in essential parts of the brain, and drug abusers who were looked at in the study sadly died at a young age but there are many others who have no knowledge of the long-term effects that these drugs can cause.
They said that the government must establish Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation centres initially in major cities and gradually in rural areas and a long term strategy must be made by the government to materialise these projects. Treatment and rehabilitation centres must be established for women, exclusively.
The government must strengthen its commitment to support NGOs working against drug abuse and all types of required support to ANF in establishment and management must be extended to ANF, sources added. They said the government must establish Research Wing under ANF for continuous evaluation and development of strategies to overcome the drug menace.
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