Rehabilitation centres to be set up in all hospitals

State minister says legislation for this move is underway

ISLAMABAD: In its bid to combat the menace of drug addiction, the government will set up rehabilitation centres in all hospitals of the country.

This was stated by State Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) and Narcotics Control Shehryar Khan Afridi while launching an awareness campaign on drugs in universities in the federal capital on Friday.

He said that his ministry has started a process to devise the legislation whereby drug addicts will be rehabilitated and all necessary resources will be utilized to bring them back into the mainstream, transforming them into productive citizens.

Once the law is passed, the state minister said that all those drugs addicts who are wasting their lives, lying under bridges, in the nullahs and the jungle will be taken care of by the state.

“Drugs addicts have been abandoned by the society at large, and even by their own families,” Afridi said, adding, “Addicts have further been pushed into isolation where drug peddlers clutch them more.”

He added that the society has a responsibility towards these ‘drug victims’.

“We need to hate drugs, not drug victims. The state will take care of these drug victims now,” the state minister said, adding, “Private sector drug rehabilitation centres have become a money-minting business and rich families are being fleeced by these centres”.

He further noted that the youth is the biggest asset of Pakistan which needs to be protected and nurtured.

“Over 65 per cent of our population comprises the youth who need to be prepared to take social responsibilities,” Afridi said, adding, “Education, which has to civilise us, has unfortunately divided and isolated us.”

“Personal ambitions and personal targets should not be making the youth anti-social, self-centred and irresponsible,” he maintained.

Afridi repeated his refrain of drugs prevailing at educational institutions, noting that that elite schools and colleges are the major targets of drug barons.

“Drugs have penetrated our youth and they do not know the extent of the challenge we are faced with,” he said.

“Peer pressure and competition are the major reasons for the spread of drugs,” the state minister blamed, adding, “Drugs are a major source of easy money which is then used in subversive activities including terrorism.”

Pakistan has long been a major conduit for Afghanistan’s biggest exports – drugs. However, Afridi said that pieces on the drug board have shifted and some new players have entered.

“Synthetic drugs are a major challenge for colleges and universities,” he said.

The minister said the youth need to be aware of the drugs menace as well as their parents, which is why the government had developed the ‘Zindagi’ application for cellular phones.

He urged all universities to make it mandatory for student and their parents to download the application and use it to become aware of the drug challenge.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2020.