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Hashish smokers should be stopped from lighting up within Parliament Lodges' premises and be asked to smoke "somewhere outside", Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla held on Thursday when a colleague of his complained of 'feeling dizzy' after inhaling second-hand smoke in the lodges in Islamabad.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Samina Saeed complained that "drivers smoke hashish inside the Parliament Lodges and are sometimes joined by policemen for a drag" during a session of the Senate House Committee — which overlooks the overall upkeep of the Parliament.
"My head starts spinning because of the hashish when I pass through that area," Senator Samina said, adding that once when she passed by the lodges, she started "feeling dizzy" by the time she reached her room.
The committee, chaired by the deputy speaker, subsequently recommended an end to hashish smoking in the lodges.
"Those smoking hashish should be stopped, they can go outside somewhere and smoke it," Senator Mandviwalla said.
Despite nearly 3.6 per cent of the population using cannabis, according to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report in 2013 ─ making it the most commonly-used drug in the country ─ the possession and use of hashish, also known as cannabis resin or charas, remains illegal in Pakistan.
In August 2017, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court had acquitted the main accused in a case pertaining to possession of hashish, appearing reluctant to uphold the four-and-a-half year sentence handed to the man by lower courts for the crime.
Justice Dost Mohammad, one of the three judges on the bench, had observed that the law has not been able to differentiate between the sale and purchase of drugs "in 100 years" as both crimes carry the same penalty when that should not be the case.
He also made some interesting comments about the cost, availability and usage of the drug: "A kilo of charas is available in Kabul for a few hundred rupees, while the same quantity is available for a billion rupees in Europe."
Rat infestations, illegal occupants
Also during today's Senate House Committee meeting, the illegal occupation of rooms in the Parliament Lodges and a rat infestation were discussed.
Officials told the committee that PTI MNA Murad Saeed and his driver are illegally residing in the lodges which are intended for the use of senators, after which the committee ordered Saeed to vacate his room.
The committee's chair also admonished the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for its failure to resolve the issue of rat infestation and to keep the toilets in the parliament clean.
"It appears that the police shall have to be called in to catch rats," a member remarked.
