KARACHI, May 12: The provincial Education Minister, Irfanullah Khan Marwat, has said that police were involved in marketing of narcotics and that drugs are easily available in any part of Karachi and elsewhere owing to police patronage.
“Narcotics are sold even at the gates of police stations and certain SHOs themselves supervise the distribution of drugs for marketing,” he remarked while addressing the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on Teachers Skill Development, organized by Anti-narcotics Force (ANF), Sindh at a local hotel.
Teachers from Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and other districts are attending the workshop. Foreign experts Geoffrey Barton and Agnes Alymagambetov as well as some local ones are imparting training to the teachers on prevention of drug abuse, life skills, learning skills, communication skills, protective strategies, appropriate prevention approach, and other subjects.
The minister noted that youth belonging to both rich and poor families were involved in drug abuse and said that open sale and use of narcotics could be witnessed in the slums of the city any time.
Mr Marwat recalled that drugs were reportedly being sold in shape of sweets outside a school in the city about three months back.
He said drug abuse was causing a devastating effect to the foundation of families, institutions and society besides breeding violence, crime and insecurity.
Revealing that new areas had come under poppy cultivation in Pakistan, particularly in Tang area of Dera Ismail Khan, Mr Marwat said, “we know several big names who have made money through narcotic trade. It is strange that stress had been laid on blocking the route of narcotics to the West but not on preventing free sale in our own country.”
He declared that the present government was committed to eradicate this menace.
He observed that well-organized drug mafia was still using Pakistan as a transit country for drug trafficking. “The traffickers are ruthless; they exploit poor people’s weaknesses; and their agents always remain busy in surveillance of our law-enforcement agencies’ movement,” he added.
The minister stressed that under these circumstance, community had to play a vital role in combating the menace.
Mr Marwat said he had directed education department to work together with the ANF in launching campaigns in schools and colleges for awareness about drug abuse. The health and excise departments would also be asked to assist the ANF in treating and rehabilitating drug addicts, he added.
Brig Saleem Akhund, Commander of ANF, Sindh, also spoke and pointed out that while the number of drug addicts in Pakistan had crossed four million mark with an annual increase of seven per cent, the number of drug treatment centres in public as well as private sector had come down.—PPI
