Though no structured data is available, according to Prime Minister Imran Khan there are seven million drug addicts in the country. This is a huge number but given the prevalence of drug addicts in neighborhoods streets across the country, and frequent media reports about the deaths of youths because of an overdose of drugs, one can safely guess the number runs in millions and even it could be around more than seven million. Announcing his government’s plan to check drug abuse among the youth, the prime minister said he would engage the whole nation besides all government resources in the war on drugs. A drug addict brings miseries not for themselves but for the whole family and if the given number is considered, it can be said that seven million families are suffering because of the drug menace.
A close look at the prime minister’s speech, which he delivered at the ANF Headquarters shows that the government has yet to formulate a policy on drug control. At this stage, the government had better take some out-of-box solutions to fight and win the war on drugs at the transport, distribution, and consumption stages using technologies. The first thing is controlling the drugs’ transportation, and in this regards borders of the country should be made safe. Right now, customs and border control forces rely on manual frisking and outdated equipment that fails to detect the drug consignments. Over the years, heroin and cannabis are being smuggled here from Afghanistan, cocaine from South Africa, and synthesis and ice from China. Similarly, the widespread drug prevalence on streets and campuses is the utter failure of families and parents to keep their youth on the right track. In all, the whole society should be blamed for the drug fiasco.
This is time the customs and border control officials officers are equipped with modern narcotics detection equipment. Similarly, once a gang of drug suppliers is apprehended, the ANF with other law-enforcement agencies, local governments, and health should initiate drug mapping, which is about sharing data on drug routes. All institutions should compile their own data and resources and tag locations where drug overdoses are occurring. Moreover, very often videos regarding drug trade and drug usage go viral online. The government should materialize video surveillance infrastructure as structured data, and bust drug houses. Community help should be sought to fight the gangs selling drugs on the streets.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/699255/war-on-drugs-and-technology/
War on drugs and technology: edit in Daily Times. Dec 9,2020
Though no structured data is available, according to Prime Minister Imran Khan there are seven million drug addicts in the country. This is a huge number but given the prevalence of drug addicts in neighborhoods streets across the country, and frequent media reports about the deaths of youths because of an overdose of drugs, one can safely guess the number runs in millions and even it could be around more than seven million. Announcing his government’s plan to check drug abuse among the youth, the prime minister said he would engage the whole nation besides all government resources in the war on drugs. A drug addict brings miseries not for themselves but for the whole family and if the given number is considered, it can be said that seven million families are suffering because of the drug menace.
A close look at the prime minister’s speech, which he delivered at the ANF Headquarters shows that the government has yet to formulate a policy on drug control. At this stage, the government had better take some out-of-box solutions to fight and win the war on drugs at the transport, distribution, and consumption stages using technologies. The first thing is controlling the drugs’ transportation, and in this regards borders of the country should be made safe. Right now, customs and border control forces rely on manual frisking and outdated equipment that fails to detect the drug consignments. Over the years, heroin and cannabis are being smuggled here from Afghanistan, cocaine from South Africa, and synthesis and ice from China. Similarly, the widespread drug prevalence on streets and campuses is the utter failure of families and parents to keep their youth on the right track. In all, the whole society should be blamed for the drug fiasco.
This is time the customs and border control officials officers are equipped with modern narcotics detection equipment. Similarly, once a gang of drug suppliers is apprehended, the ANF with other law-enforcement agencies, local governments, and health should initiate drug mapping, which is about sharing data on drug routes. All institutions should compile their own data and resources and tag locations where drug overdoses are occurring. Moreover, very often videos regarding drug trade and drug usage go viral online. The government should materialize video surveillance infrastructure as structured data, and bust drug houses. Community help should be sought to fight the gangs selling drugs on the streets.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/699255/war-on-drugs-and-technology/
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan