It's ice, ice baby, NA panel told

The National Assembly Standing Committee on the Interior and Narcotics Control was informed on Monday that drug usage, particularly "party drugs" like methamphetamine (commonly known as "ice"), was on the rise within elite circles and urban areas.

The panel was chaired by Malik Shah and attended by officials from the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

During the session, it was revealed that in 2024 alone, 125 metric tons of drugs were seized, and drug use is increasingly prevalent among the elite class.

The lawmakers raised alarms over the rising trend of party drugs and the growing popularity of "ice" (methamphetamine) in urban areas. Committee member Malik Sohail Khan questioned ANF's effectiveness, pointing out that "if we can't make even a small city like Islamabad drug-free, what are we achieving? Drug prevention in Islamabad's schools is inadequate."

However, ANF's director said that daily operations were conducted around educational institutions but stressed that drug prevention within institutions was the responsibility of those institutions themselves.

"This is a responsibility not just for our ministry but for the entire nation. The ANF, as a federal agency, targets large-scale operations, not street-level interventions," he added. Committee member Abdul Hakeem Baloch also expressed concern over the increasing drug use among the elite, saying drug dealers face minimal penalties and often have powerful lawyers defending them.

The chairman acknowledged the dual domestic and international challenges posed by narcotics, citing the recent martyrdom of an assistant commissioner in Qilla Saifullah who had sealed meth factories.