Pakistan has successfully eradicated poppy cultivation from Balochistan province while due to bad law and order situation in Fata and certain parts of NWFP, cultivation of poppy was reported, said Secretary, Ministry of Narcotics Control, KB Rind, here on Thursday.
"With the improvement in law and order in these areas, this cultivation figure should come down significantly in the future" Rind said while addressing the launching ceremony of World Drug Report 2009 organised by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in co-ordination with Ministry of Narcotics Control and Anti-Narcotics Forces.
He said that the Ministry of Narcotics Control and ANF are leaving no stones unturned to engage and cooperate with our Afghan counterpart agencies to control the production and trafficking of drugs in the region. "We expect that the UNODC and other international agencies will also assist us and Afghan agencies in sharing vital intelligence and other relative data to successfully unearth and prosecute anyone involved in manufacturing and trafficking of drugs in Afghanistan", he added.
K B Rind, said that World Drug Report 2009 is an outstanding achievement of UNODC. "I draw satisfaction from the fact that this report is a welcome departure from the traditional Law Enforcement based outlook on the issue of drug abuse in the world", he continued.
He told the audience that Ministry of Narcotics Control has taken a principal policy decision to setup addiction treatment and rehabilitation centres in various cities of Pakistan. Despite the financial constraints, we are running two such centres at Islamabad and Quetta and have planned to start three such projects in Karachi, Lahore and Interior Sindh in the next few months, he added.
He further said that I look forward to our traditional development partners like UNODC, NAS and others to put the treatment and rehabilitation of drug patients on the priority list of their country assistance programmes. Government of Pakistan has been exhibiting its resolve and commitment to control the menace of drug abuse in the region since long. Secretary further said that I am happy to note that the present report mentions the fact that poppy cultivation in Pakistan is controlled at, "the same relatively low level of about 2000 hectors reported over the past five years".