Senate body told: Lack of coordination between governments cause of increase in drug addiction cases

ISLAMABAD: The main reason behind the increasing drugs addiction in the country is the lack of coordination between federal and provincial institutes, said Secretary Ministry of Narcotics Control Allah Dino Khowaja on Monday.

Khowaja, while briefing Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control said effective coordination was mandatory for elimination of the menace of drug use in the country.

He said the elimination of street drug trafficking was related to provincial police and excise departments. The secretary said Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had broader scope in looking after all airports, ports and the country's longest border with Afghanistan.

He said following the issue related to the alarming increase in drug use was raised in the parliament, the minister for narcotics control convened a meeting attended by representatives of Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and the minister for maritime affairs.

He said the meeting decided to increase coordination between the maritime agency, the anti-narcotics force, and the provincial excise and taxation departments. The meeting also decided to constitute a cabinet committee consisting of federal and provincial governments' representatives, and asked inter-agency taskforce to hold meeting after every 15 days, he said.

The secretary said the minister would forward all these recommendations to the prime minister for final approval. Discussing the medicinal qualities of industrial hemp, the committee was informed that given the large quantities in which the plant grows naturally in Pakistan, the ANF is consulting with research institutions such as the ICCBS to make it more useful.

The Committee was of the view that national-level conference must be held to see how growth of hemp can be regulated, and utilised in Pakistan. Chairman Committee Senator Muhammad Shafiq Tareen was of the view that the federal government with major agencies within its ambit must be more proactive regarding this issue that threatens Pakistan's social fabric. Senator Muhammad Sabir Shah said drug rose to an alarming level in the country, therefore, everyone needed to be concerned in that regard.

The growing trend of drug abuse in youth inside and outside educational institutes has posed a serious threat to the lives and health of students as the college and university students use drugs freely, he said.

He said that the ANF was doing their job but where were the other agencies including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the special branch, and other agencies, and the law-enforcement agencies.

He requested the chairman committee to summon representatives of the FIA, the IB, the special branch and the customs to brief the committee about their steps against drugs traffic.

The committee has summoned representatives of the FIA, IB, special branch and the customs to attend the next meeting, and brief it about the step taken by them against drug traffickers. Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak said due to poor prosecution drug traffickers get bail from court; therefore, there was a dire need to improve prosecution.

He said the ANF needed to install modern gadgets such as dashboard cameras in their vehicles in order to enable their investigators to properly collect evidence. The secretary said the ANF had moved an amendment to make it a part of fair trial act as so far the force was not part of a fair trial act.

He also said the force had taken up the matter related to installation of dashboard cameras. Senator Lt-Gen Abdul Qayyum (retd) said drugs abuse was destroying the young generation; therefore, "we as a nation and our agencies need to devise an effective strategy to eradicate this menace". The meeting was also attended by Senator Rana Maqbaool Ahmed, Senator Aurangzeb Khan, and officials of the ANF.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020