ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday directed the Ministry of Narcotics Control to ensure elimination of poppy cultivation in the country by devising a strategy to help farmers to grow alternative crops and adopt other means of living , a spokesman for Narcotics Control Division said.

The prime minister was presiding over a meeting held to review the performance of Narcotics Control Division and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) here on Monday. He directed the Ministry of Narcotics Control and the ANF to concentrate their efforts on Demand Reduction Measures (DRM) and mass awareness programme.

The Ministry of Narcotics and the ANF, he said, should focus on coordinated efforts to eradicate the measures of drug smuggling and drug addiction. "They should have a close liaison with the provincial governments and other concerned agencies," he said.

During the meeting the prime minister was informed that law-enforcement agencies in the country had frozen assets worth Rs67 million of various drug barons engaged in poppy cultivation and drug smuggling.

The prime minister was informed that due to consistent efforts by the Ministry of Narcotics and the ANF, there was no heroin laboratory in Pakistan. Similarly, the noose around drug barons and poppy cultivators had been tightened by freezing their assets worth millions of rupees, the meeting was informed.

According to the Ministry of Narcotics Control, the ANF, in collaboration with international agencies, was making all-out efforts for eradication of poppy cultivation, rehabilitation of drug addicts and Demand Reduction Programme.

The meeting was also informed that the ANF was planning to launch the 'Friends for Life' club in collaboration with the corporate sector to increase mass awareness against drug addiction among the high-risk age group between 15 and 31 years.

The club would hold seminars, walks, press campaigns, and talk shows on television and radio as part of the mass awareness programme, the meeting was informed. The prime minister was informed that a Drug Abuse Control Master Plan (DACMP) had been launched in the country as part of Demand Reduction Measures with the help of community participation.

The ministry would set up model rehabilitation centres in Islamabad and Quetta to intensify its efforts for rehabilitation and training of drug users. The district governments were also being involved in demand reduction measures and mass awareness programme against drug abuse, a representative of the ANF said in the meeting.