Dr Sana Imran
AS per latest surveys and reports from world monitoring institutions, trend in drugs and substance abuse, is gradually shifting from plant-based drugs (ie. Opium and Hashish) to synthetic drugs (Methamphetamine and Ecstasy tablets etc).
Methamphetamine, commonly known as Meth, is a highly addictive synthetic drug, which is increasing its footprint in Pakistan.
Met amphetamine is a growing health concern not only in Pakistan but for the region and the globe as well. A reported 60% surge in the seizures of Methamphetamine in South and West Asia necessitates immediate actions against its proliferation. As per UNODC estimates, Meth seizures in and around Afghanistan soured from 2.9 tons to 29.7 tons from 2017 to 2021. It is in this backdrop that vulnerability of Pakistani youth to synthetic drugs specifically Meth, has increased manifolds. Unfortunately, Meth addiction in Pakistan is steadily rising. The most vulnerable segment of the society is the youth, ranging in ages from 18 to 35 years. The educational institutions are the most exposed places, where addicts may range from doctors to engineers and sportsmen to entrepreneurs.
Soon after taking over Afghanistan in 2021, Taliban vowed to crack down on narcotics by issuing a decree to ban the production and sale of illicit drugs. But the decree was not adequately enforced. Notwithstanding the slowdown in 2022 and 2023, drugs trade in Afghanistan started to witness a big boom again. As per UNODC Report-2024, currently Afghanistan is experiencing 19% increase in cultivation and almost 30% increase in drugs production. Taliban’s crackdown on poppy cultivation in 2022/ 23, also instigated a strategic shift towards Methamphetamine production. Surge in Meth production in Afghanistan bears dire implications for Pakistan, region and the globe. Reportedly, there are scores of Meth-manufacturing facilities functional in Afghan provinces, which are bordering Pakistan. Since, 40% of Afghan-origin drugs illegally pass thorough Pakistan, therefore, infamous heroin-based transit route is also being used a conduit for the dispatch of synthetic drugs. Inflow of synthetic drugs particularly Meth from Afghanistan, is an imminent threat for Pakistan and its youth.
Three UN treaties together form the international law framework of the global drug control regime: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971, and the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988. Being a signatory to all these international treaties, Pakistan wilfully fulfills its obligations. Inland, National Anti-Narcotics Policy-2019, guides the counter narcotics efforts of Pakistan. Pakistan also has very comprehensive Control of Narcotics Substance (CNS) Act-1997 and Anti-Narcotics Force Act-1997, to cover the legal aspects of its CN efforts. As a responsible sovereign state, Pakistan maintains zero tolerance towards drugs and substance abuse / trafficking and aspires for becoming a “Drug Free Nation”.
Pakistan continues to retain and maintain its “Poppy Free Status” since 2001. During 2024 alone, Pakistan seized over 361 metric tons of drugs, whose value in international drugs markets exceeded 20 billion USD. Meth/ Meth seizures were up to 20 tons, which amounted to 6% of the total seizures.
With many meth-producing factories operative in Afghanistan, bulk of the produce gets trafficked to Pakistan for onwards dispatch to GCC countries and the West. However, this large scale trafficking of Meth, is a grave source of Pakistan, which has a sizeable youth bulge. For a victim and transit state, the unintended outcomes of Meth trafficking entail a public health crisis, increase in crime and violence, entrapment of youth and strain on law enforcement agencies.
Exploitation of porous borders, misuse of traditional opium routes and manipulation of Hawala-Hundi system, contribute towards pilferage of Meth from Afghanistan to Pakistan and beyond. Largely, Methamphetamine is trafficked alongside heroine, using children or exploitable carriers as narco-mules. These are employed along traditional routes for drug trafficking to Pakistan. At times, sling shots are made, non-traditional routes frequented, drones are employed, camels are used and fishing boats hired to dodge the LEAs. Moreover, the ease in concealment of synthetic drugs and employment of innovative techniques, afford an edge to the drug traffickers.
As an addictive stimulant, Meth/ Ice has the characteristic to keep one active for more than 72 hours consecutively. Students from the educational disciplines that entail consistent academic rigor such as MBBS, become more susceptible to the use of Meth/ Ice, to stay focused for longer duration of times. This is equally valid for students, who appear in tough competitive exams to accrue maximum within smaller spans of time. Ironically, what one may start as an occasional dose to tackle a difficult situation, eventually translates into a lethal addiction. Adding insult to injury, most of this drug abuse often goes under-reported, due to the fear of social stigma and its potential impact on academic and professional futures of otherwise very capable, competent and ambitious youth. It is therefore, necessary to run educational institutes-centric counter narcotics campaigns across Pakistan more frequently. Such campaigns should incorporate the students, parents, faculty and administrative staff with counter-narcotics LEAs. It must be understood that not any single institution but a whole of the system and whole of the nation approach can accrue the desired dividends.
While the crops of plant-based drugs follow a seasonal pattern, necessitating a big area & workforce for cultivation / harvesting along with attendant logistic issues, the manufacturing of synthetic drugs remains to be an easier option. Synthetic drugs are made with the mixing of precursors & chemicals in a cost-effective and controlled environment. Pakistan is known to have an imports-based economy, whose industrial sector imports precursors/ chemicals from abroad to fulfill its industrial needs. The precursors/ chemicals used for licit purposes in industrial sector, are allocated to the firms dealing with chemicals, in the form of a quota, by Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control (MoI& NC), following a stringent and multi-tier system. Out of that allocation, even if smaller quantity of precursors/ chemicals somehow gets diverted to illicit purposes, that becomes enough for large-scale production of synthetic drugs. Concealment of such diversion is also possible, in the guise of medicinal or industrial consumption. Hence, the prospects of illicit diversion of precursors/ chemicals, at sub-distributors or vendors level, cannot be ignored. To arrest this trend, it is necessary to digitize the system and ensure that 100% firms, dealers, distributors and vendors involved in sale of precursors and chemicals, get registered with the Government and furnish complete details of consumption, when demanded.
As a society, our first priority should be to support families and communities for better responding to the people affected by drugs particularly the Meth/ Ice. We must spread relevant awareness through community engagement programs to treat it as a social issue that confronts the whole nation. Together, we can make the difference and each one of us has a definitive role to play so that our younger generations remain safe of the menace of drugs.
—The writer is associated with a renowned university in Islamabad. She can be reached [email protected]
