Some 685 deaths are occurring every day in the world due to drug usage or overdose
KARACHI: Drugs are destroying our society and youth. Some 685 deaths are occurring every day in the world due to drug usage or overdose, which is higher than the number of deaths resulting from terrorism.
The world’s drug economy is worth $435 billion and around $225 billion is needed for drug treatment of patients globally. The most commonly recovered drug in Pakistan is hashish, followed by heroin, opium and cocaine, which are easily smuggled from Afghanistan.
Moreover, the easy availability of drugs on streets, universities and colleges is an absolute failure on part of the police and the excise department. Sadly, the rise in cases of drug abuse is among the youth in particular the students of renowned universities and colleges. The findings of the data show that since 2016, at least 9,885kgs of heroin, 1,440kgs of hashish and 33kgs of opium were seized in special raids conducted on educational institutions.
It is important that the malicious acts of the police and negligence in the investigation of the genuine cases must not be brushed aside. It is incumbent upon the senior police officials to conduct in-depth inquiries against the investigation officers and the complainant of the cases registered under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, in which the accused persons are ultimately acquitted by the courts and the FIRs/cases are subsequently quashed.
Arsalan Raja
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2017.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
