International day against drugs observed

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was observed on Sunday around the world to raise awareness about the impact of drug abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs.

The theme of 2022 is “Addressing Drugs Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crises”.

The Drug Advisory Training Hub (DATH) and the Pakistan Law Company organized a seminar and annual award ceremony 2022 regarding World Anti-Drugs Day for service providers who served in drug demand reduction fields the whole year in collaboration with the Anti-Narcotics Force Punjab.

Prof. Dr. Murtaza Jafri, vice-chancellor of the National College of the Arts (NCA) presided. Syed Zulfiqar said that without political will we can’t curb the drug menace in the society.

“We have no policy for treatment and prevention for a large number of homeless and unknown drug addicts who were using narcotics on footpaths, gardens and parks,” he added.

Bodies of 60 homeless drug addicts were found in May 2022 in Lahore due to overdose and shortage of drugs, shortage of food and water, living with miserable conditions and hot weather, he said.

The new trend of drug addiction was on the rise among young generation especially those belonging to the upper and middle classes, he said.

He said that by involving different government departments the use of drugs could be minimized.

People were dependent on different forms of substance in the country, including Gutka etc.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2022.