According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Pakistan has 6.7 million drug users. More than 4 million of these are addicts. This country is rife with the abuses of cannabis and heroin. These drugs are extremely cheap and easy to get. Most of them come from Afghanistan. UNODC calculates that more than 800,000 Pakistanis use heroin regularly. Most of them are from Sindh. It is also estimated that up to 44 tons of processed heroin are consumed annually in Pakistan.
Sindh Police has been doing its best to fight against these drugs and has arrested many people over these 2 years, limiting the abuse of drugs to a certain degree, but this is not enough. An addict requires proper rehabilitation in order to get back on his/her feet. Another problem arises here; the shortage of rehabilitation centers. The rehabilitation centers in Pakistan are very few and are extremely expensive with not-so-well trained Doctors and staff.
It is about time that the Government of Pakistan take this into concern and setup Government-Facilitated Rehabilitation centers across the country and provide sufficient funds to the concerned private organizations.
NOUMAN HASAN,
Karachi.