The Narcotics Control Ministry and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has prepared PC-I for establishing Model Drugs Addiction and Treatment Centres in the country. Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that these centres will be established in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
The number of drug abusers has risen to 5 million, which demands prompt action by the government. The ministry is committed for alerting individuals, families, communities and institutions of the threat posed by drug abuse particularly amongst youth that is most vulnerable segment of the society and its gravest fallout on the marginalised addict population suffering from Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, they said.
The ministry is emphasising on provision of information and analysis on regional drugs trafficking trends, methods and routes to enable the law enforcement agencies to target drug trafficking organisations in a more effective method, they added.
The country shares around 2,500 kilometers of its western border with Afghanistan that is the largest producer of opiates and the mountainous terrain of the region coupled with several other factors which makes it impossible for the country to guard against the large scale poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, they said.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime the estimated value of narcotics business becomes 321 billion dollar and criminal activities associated with drug trafficking and terrorism financed by illicit drug money increased the threat to the stability of the whole world and particularly neighbouring countries, they said.
It was stated that huge profits of the drugs trade goes into the pockets of national and international drug traffickers, many farmers are the victims of drug trade and most cultivate opium poppy for reasons of poverty, there are also Afghan beneficiaries, they said.
These include large landowners and regional leaders who receive the illegal proceeds from the drugs business and because of considerable price fluctuations over the years and the easiness of storage, large quantities of opium and its derivatives are being stockpiled inside Afghanistan, they said.
Heroine, opium and hashish are the most commonly abused drugs, along with a wide variety of easily available pharmaceutical drugs such as analgesics, hypno-sedatives and tranquillisers, they said.
Narco 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, they said.
They said that no society can remain unaffected by the disastrous consequences of illicit drug trade adding that an estimated 200 million people or 5 percent of global population aged between 15 and 64 years, have consumed illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months. 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 Narcotics Control Ministry and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), they concluded.
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