World Drug Day — prevention is the cure

‘People first: stop stigma and discrimination, strengthen prevention’ is the UN theme this year for the World Drug Day, June 26^th. We, however, usually celebrate this day by burning the narcotic-drugs seized during the year.

Pakistan’s National Anti-Narcotics Policy 2019 is erected around three pillars — Enforcement; Prevention, Rehabilitation and Education; and, International Cooperation. While there have been some institutional efforts around Enforcement and International Cooperation, the realm of Prevention, the core of the 2019 policy, has been a no man’s land. The outcome is the reconciliation of the society with narcotic-drugs phenomenon and has, though unknowingly, compromised to co-exist with the evil of narco-drugs.

The rupturing fallout of non-prevention is the staggering number of drug addicts which in 2013 were 6.7 million while being 1.3 million in 1982 — more than 2 hundred thousand people becoming addicts every year!

The 2006-07 ‘National Drug Abuse Assessment Survey’ attempted to explore the reasons of increase in number of addicts which found that the increase was primarily caused due to availability of drugs at low prices; rapidly changing social norms which place new demands on individuals for which drugs offer a false solution; lack of proper interest in education, peer pressure and negligence of parents; lack of drug education within the family and in educational institutions; apathy on the part of community leaders in responding to drug abuse and others. The findings hinted to poor preventive regime.

Pakistan Drug Abuse Control Master Plans of 2008-13 and that of 2010-14 committed to make Pakistan Drug-Free by 2020 through Enforcement dialectics and also the measures in the Prevention realm. The preventive actions could neither materialise nor could make the duly required social impact chiefly due to the lack of ‘whole of the people approach’ of the twin plans. Also, the plans were excessively focused around the Enforcement pillar than around Prevention.

However, the 2019 policy poised the formula for igniting a movement at national, provincial and sub-regional tiers against narcotic-drugs by suggesting workable actions on the preventive frontiers. Some such novel policy measures were building awareness and educating people about the negative effects of drug use; encouraging electronic media and entertainment industry to develop films and television series to highlight the negative consequences of illicit drug use on drug users, their families and society as a whole; institutionalising essay, debating and poster competitions among youth at national, provincial and district levels to raise awareness about drug prevention; educating people about the ill effects of drug abuse and etc.

Sadly, actions around the Prevention pillar remain idle so far.

To ignite Prevention, a mass scale social action plan will be the first thing to start within the entire country. CSOs/NGOs could do this effectively within a time span of one year on pilot bases. Creating social mobilisation groups within defined catchments of the districts will be training, educating and making people aware of the effects of narcotic-drugs. This sensitisation repeated aloud will enable the societies as wholes to develop the capacity of informal ‘social restrain’ which is the sine qua non of any effective and sustainable Prevention plan.

In addition, the curriculum is critical to be infused with anti-narco education and awareness. It will lay out a deep impact on the inquisitive brains of our future generations. Of course, it has to be done carefully by curriculum experts. The sports-equation cannot be nullified by engaging youth in physical activities which will require sports infrastructure development in the country.

Next, social media influencers can be oriented to spread awareness about narcotic drugs. Being a bolder though affected by issues of authenticity, social media can still be used to identify people’s social responsibilities towards illicit drugs use, cultivation, transportation, etc.

There can be no doubt that when it comes to narcotic-drugs control measures, Prevention works better than anything else and it indeed is the panacea, both literally and practically.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2023.

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