Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Measures to Curb the Menace of Drugs

Life is, without a doubt, a miracle. One has to reach to this conclusion after going through its mysteries and excellence. Life is not how it is defined; rather, it is how it is lived. The living of life gives it a meaning. Human beings are not born with particular meanings for their lives, they have to discover them, search for them and ultimately depict and disseminate them through attitude and behavior. Destinations are not pre-determined; they are carved, discovered and strived for. The experiences, behaviors, thoughts, dealings and different and often contrasting approaches embellish human lives with significance, with a worth and with a connotation. And, great are those who fight for life; for its dignity and for its significance; those who tell the human not to waste it and be counted among the responsible members of the community. Not those who make life a misery and make human beings suffer.

After mentioning the indispensability and primness of life, it should not go unmentioned that the menace like drugs that devalue the life and make human beings crawl like insects, instead of rising like a real human must be spurned and proper measures must be carried out to uproot them from our society in their entirety.

The preventive measures to stop the use of drugs should be two-fold. First, the measures must be carried out to discourage its spread and use; means the objective should be to stop producing new addicts. Strict legal measures must be carried out to discourage the smuggling of drugs and its business. The convenient availability of different types of drugs makes many addicts each year. Even if a very young child goes to buy a packet of cigarette from any shop in the country; he will not return empty-handed. It is just a small example, even the most harmful of the drugs are available with greatest of the ease. On the other hand, there are people who are so unfortunate and incognizant of the negative use of them that they use them as medicine. Their incapacity to have approach to the normal medicine, they try to find cure in the only drug they have easily and cheaply available. By the time they are cured from their diseases, they are caught in the cruel web of addiction to the drugs. With such a scenario at hand, it is really a Herculean task to stop the people becoming addict. In fact, the drug smuggling and its availability in every corner of the country is linked with the organized crime in the entire region and even international mafia. Most of the funding for the organized crime in the country is obtained from the filthy business of drugs. Unfortunately, the law and order system is not strong enough to take serious action against them. More unfortunate is the fact that there are culprits from within the government authorities who are involved in invigorating this grimy business and make the people addicted to this menace, instead of playing a role in eradicating it entirely. All these factors must be taken care of by the government authorities and relevant agencies and a comprehensive movement should be launched to counter this menace.

The second phase of the preventive campaign should involve the treatment of the addicts and availability of pleasant environment to them so that they should avoid using drugs and return to positive living. In this regard the establishment of the medical and rehabilitation centers can play a key role. Well-developed and properly managed hospitals and rehabilitation centers for the addicts can really bring back the addicts from the alleys of the darkness to the horizons of the illumination. It is hapless to mention that the number of such centers is insufficient in our country. There are only few such centers in the urban areas while most of the people, who are addicted to drugs, do not have access to such opportunities. It should also be mentioned that the ones that are present are not equipped with latest technology, medicine and techniques and on most of the occasions they depend on violence as their only tool to cure the patients. The patients after such treatment, instead of becoming a positive member of society, are further pushed towards addiction and crimes. So, the important thing is that the centers that are established to treat the victims of drugs addiction must not only be equipped with latest technology and techniques, but also well-trained and affectionate doctors and caretakers.   

The suggested measures can really play a role in discouraging the use of drugs; nevertheless, they are short-term. For a considerable reduction in the use of this menace, it is vital that better living conditions must be provided to the people as most of the people become addicted because of their poor socio-economic circumstance. In addition, the production and smuggling of the drugs should be banned as much as possible through a trust-worthy and strong law and order system. Shortly, it is important that the rule of law should be maintained throughout the country. Moreover, awareness campaigns must be launched in different parts of country that can spread awareness about the ferocity of this hazard and that has the capacity to generate intense hatred against it and inculcate within the minds of our people the dignity of life and its importance.