Inter-agency synergy must to combat drugs

Senate panel for better training of police, excise officials

ISLAMABAD:

With drugs deemed a ‘national calamity’, a panel of senators on Monday stressed the need for greater coordination between the federal machinery and provincial agencies to check the proliferation of narcotics in the country.

This was discussed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control on Monday at the Parliament House. Senator Shafiq Tareen chaired the committee.

Tareen said that the federal government, with major security agencies within its ambit, must be more proactive on this issue which threatens the country’s social fabric.

He asserted that incentives and training must be given to all agencies, including the police and the excise department to deal with drug-related issues apart from providing the necessary support mechanisms to federal agencies.

Greater coordination between all federal and provincial anti-drug agencies was stressed by senators.

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Senator Sabir Shah raised a point of public importance on the overall deterioration in society and lack of responsibility shown by the government. It was revealed that the main issue faced by the primary counter-drug agency, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) was the lack of adequate human resources.

Moreover, a lack of coordination between agencies was a major contributing factor to their poor performance as well. To curb the spread of drugs in Pakistan it was asserted that all agencies at the federal and provincial level own this issue and work towards ending it.

On the legislative front, it was suggested that effective laws, good governance and strict punishments were some of the other ways to stop this menace.

While the forum recognised the problem of drugs on campuses, they said that narcotics are also being sold openly at recreational areas.

Discussing the medicinal properties of industrial hemp, the committee was told that given the large quantities in which the plant grows naturally in Pakistan, it could be harnessed for positive purposes.

In this regard, ANF officials said that they are consulting with research institutions such as ICCBS to derive positive uses of it. The Senate committee was of the view that a national conference must be held to see how the growth of hemp can be regulated and used. A recommendation was made to install advanced gadgets in ANF vehicles to help with countering the drug menace.

The committee proposed that loopholes in existing laws must be plugged to ensure perpetrators are convicted. Strengthening prosecution is key to ensure conviction rates and thus imperative to control the proliferation of narcotics in Pakistan, senators said.

'Drugs could harm you if extensive care is not taken'​​​​​​​

The committee also stressed the need to make the ANF a part of the Fair Trial Act.

The committee directed that all federal and provincial agencies, along with certain research organizations be summoned to its next meeting.

Members attending the meeting were Senator Lt. Gen (R) Abdul Qayyum, Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak, Senator Seemee Ezdi, Senator Aurangzeb Khan, Senator Haji Momin Khan Afridi, Senator Muhammad Sabir Shah and senior officers from the Ministry of Narcotics Control, Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) along with all concerned.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2020.