People urged to purge society of narcotics

CHARSADDA: Provincial Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education Anwar Zeb Khan on Saturday urged the people to come forward and help purge the society of use of narcotics and drug trafficking.

Speaking at a function held in connection with the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at the office of Social Welfare Department here, he said that the provincial government had provided Rs50 million to the public and private rehabilitation centres to treat the drug addicts in Peshawar.

District Social Welfare officer Shoaib Khan, Assistant Commissioners Alveena Faiz, Sara Zainab and under treatment drug addicts from various rehabilitation centres attended the event.

“This is the responsibility of social workers as well as people hailing from all walks of life to play their role to purge the society of menace of drugs and its trafficking,” the minister said, adding that they had declared HIV and AIDS tests for the addicts compulsory at these centres so that this fatal disease could not be spread.

He said that use of drugs was on the rise among the youths of the province and now it was everyone’s responsibility to keep a vigil on their children not to fall into use of narcotics

He said that 10.09 percent of the total population was now using various kinds of drugs, which was an alarming and dangerous trend.

The minister said that the government had now established rehabilitation of a number of centres on warfooting to treat the addicts and control the use of drugs at every level.