Our drug problem

Pakistan, along with every other country in the world, has a drug problem. The scale of the problem varies considerably globally and the problem in Pakistan is significant but not on the scale of the US, for instance. For decades there has been an information blight about drug use and abuse, and an unwillingness to acknowledge the scale of the problem. The United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) has now released its report for 2013 regarding drug use in Pakistan and it provides an objective picture which may form the basis of strategic planning. There are around 4.25 million drug users in Pakistan who are considered to be dependent — physically addicted rather than simply being users or abusers of a substance — and they require a structured intervention to control or cure their addiction. The problem is greatest in Punjab with 2.9 million people using illegal substances, and about 260,000 who inject drugs. Resources to treat them are minuscule.

Those who inject drugs often share their needles with others. Needle sharing has long been identified with the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. There are low levels of public awareness about HIV/AIDS and its transmission, and strong resistance to disseminating educative material or educating young people as to the dangers of poly-drug use and abuse. A desire to perpetuate ignorance will feed into an expanding drug culture. The UNODC recommended that they and the government develop an action plan, which would include an awareness campaign, as well as doing some much-needed capacity-building in the scant facilities that already exist. Pakistan is located next to Afghanistan, one of the largest opiate producing countries in the world, and raw opium is regularly trafficked across our borders to feed both the domestic and global markets. The drug problem is not going to be wished away. It is deeply entrenched, growing, and requires a determined national intervention if it is not to mushroom. The UNODC report is a helpful starting point and it is now for the government to respond to the challenge.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2014.

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