CCPO urges society’s role to curb drug abuse

Says strong prosecution of cases, rehabilitation of addicts can also help tackle problem

LAHORE:

Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar Saturday said that society must play its role to curb drug abuse among people, especially the youth, to make the provincedrug free.

He was addressing the annual award distribution ceremony held in connection with observance of the International Day against Drugs Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2021, under the auspices of the Drug Advisory Training Hub.

The theme of the ceremony for this year was titled 'Share Drug Facts to Save Lives'.

The CCPO told the event participants, "Together, we can tackle the drug crisis and eliminate this menace from society".

He regretted that the youth, even from educated families, had been falling victim to drugs. The whole family, and ultimately, the whole society is destroyed if a single member falls victim to drugs, he added.

Dogar further said, "We will have to focus on four major elements including supply and demand of drugs, strong prosecution of cases and most importantly rehabilitation of the addicts, to tackle the problem.

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He said the Lahore Police had initiated a vigorous crackdown on narcotics dealers to cut the supply line of drugs. “The police department teams had arrested around 5,000 drug sellers and recovered 30 per cent more drugs this years than the last year.”

The Lahore police recovered over 2.25 tonnes of hashish, 43 kgs of heroin, 10 kgs ofice and more than 55,000 bottles of liquor during this year, he highlighted.

He stated that Lahore police arranged different meetings with sessions judge and district prosecutor, formulating a scrutiny committee as well to ensure proper preparation and finalisation of cases against the arrested drug traffickers and their conviction from the courts concerned.

Dogar said,“The last element, rehabilitation of the addicts, is the most important task as drug addicts can be seen almost everywhere in city; on roadsides, under bridges, and on greenbelts. It depicted an ugly picture of our society to the world,” he regretted.

Lahore Commissioner Muhammad Usman also spoke at the ceremony.

Shields were awarded to citizens and the government officers who performed well in rehabilitation of drug addicts.

Punjab Women Development Task Force ChairpersonTanzeela Imran Khan, DATHDirector Syed Zulfiqar Hussain, social worker ShahidQadir, office bearers of traders associations, industrialists, medical experts and people from different spheres of life were present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2021.