New law to help educational institutions crackdown on drugs

Senator Qayyum urges students to help fight drugs on campuses

With Pakistan a gateway to the world for around 75 per cent of all drugs produced around the globe in neighbouring Afghanistan, the country is slowing turning into a major consumer for drugs. However, students have a key role to play to stop drug abuse if they partner with organisations who are trying to combat narcotics.

This was stated by Senator Lieutenant General (retired) Abdul Qayyum while giving a talk on drug abuse to the students and faculty at the COMSATS University on Wednesday.

Senator Lt Gen Qayyum, who is the convener of a sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control, encouraged the students to join hands with various institutions fighting against drug abuse in the country.

Moreover, he urged them to take responsibility as partners against this menace.

The Senator said that it was imperative to not only protect ourselves but also those around us.

“This is the only way we can fulfil our responsibility to society and work towards its prosperity,” he said, adding, “Defeating all negative forces that threaten our society is imperative to our sustainability.”

He assured the students that he will work towards strengthening legislation against the spread of drugs in the country and would also ensure that everyone responsible for its spread is taken to task.

The law, he added, will allow educational institutions to take action against all those who use and push drugs on campus.

However, he stressed the need for motivation as the best mode of fighting against this menace.

“Working towards a better environment for our youth is the only way to protect them.”

Anti-Narcotics Force-North Enforcement Director Brigadier Mubashir Hassan Kazmi, while discussing the organization’s role in curbing drugs on campus, stressed the need to look at drug abuse as a social problem that can only be dealt with when the society comes together and joins hands.

He encouraged the youth to protect themselves and said that in order to be safe, it was imperative that they do not use drugs, even socially.

Brig Kazmi further said that the formulation of drug prevention policies was essential for the fight against this intricate network that offers no exit options to those who enter it.

He lamented that at the moment there were are no efficient rehabilitation facilities in the country which was alarming because once someone starts using narcotics, there is no way out.

The sub-Committee on the Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control was especially formed to visit different educational institutions in Pakistan to gauge the enormity of the problem of drug abuse in Pakistan’s youth and through brainstorming of ideas, formulate a strategy to curb it.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2019.