MPAs demand stern action against narcotics use

Education minister rejects talk of drug use on campuses as ‘propaganda’

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Shagufta Malik on Monday demanded of the government to take appropriate measures to curb the increasing consumption of ice and other narcotics in educational institutions and hostels.

Chairman of Panel Idrees Khattak presided the K-P Assembly session.

Shagufta Malik, who belongs to Awami National Party (ANP), said that ice has spread across the length and breadth of the province. She expressed apprehension that the new generation would be physically and mentally paralyzed if no action against drugs is taken.

“Every other youngster is an addict,” she said, calling it a collective issue which must be referred to the committee for fruitful discussion.

Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) MPA Sahibzada Sanaullah seconded these thoughts demanding action against drug peddlers on a war footing.

“Ice is sold like candies outside Universities,” PPP MPA Nighat Orakzai remarked, asking why police had failed to control the menace.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Humayoon Khan said that Malakand is still controlled by the Levies who, he alleged, have links with drug peddlers.

K-P Education Minister Kamran Bangash rejected the allegations, saying the universities are free from narcotics. Terming the use of drugs in educational institutions as propaganda, he added that there was “not a single addict” in the institutions as smoking was also completely banned within their premises.

Focusing on the government’s progress against drug dealers, he said that action has been taken against peddlers as there are strict laws related to ice which can lead to awarding of death sentence.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2022.