According to figures put out by international organisations, including those linked to the UN, Pakistan’s population of around 240 million people includes 64 per cent who are aged under 30 years. This makes Pakistan the country with the largest youth bulge in the world.
Economic experts have pointed out again and again that the youth bulge is immensely favourable and could help Pakistan develop over the coming years, provided that these young people are educated, given training in various skills and spared the harm that stems from malnutrition and other factors, including abject poverty.
But there’s another factor which damages the youth – the use of drugs among young people of various ages, most notably those below 35 years and quite often those aged barely 14 or 15 years. The figures available indicate that there are 6.7 million known drug users in Pakistan. Two million of these are addicts. While the highest number of users in the past consumed opiates, including cannabis in its various forms and heroin, to meet their need and cater to their addiction, there has been a change in the most recent years with Ice, also known as crystal meth, or methamphetamine taking over.
This is because crystal meth is cheap, and can be manufactured in street labs everywhere in the country. Some figures suggest that as many as 53 per cent of students in private schools, mainly boys, are using drugs of one kind or the other. In most cases, the pyramid shows that drug use starts at the ages of 14 or 15, often with cigarettes or alcohol, and then moves from there on to other substances, in at least some cases.
The lack of understanding about drug use in Pakistan makes it even harder to cope with the problem. In most cases, drug use remains criminalised, though there have been some attempts to break this cycle in recent years, with a drug user treated as a criminal, and often placed before bars. This does not really help the cycle, with studies showing that drugs of all kinds are frequently provided inside jails and in police lockups.
The efforts that have been made towards rehabilitating addicts in a sensible and positive manner do not really exist. There are believed to be far too few rehabilitation facilities in the country, and those that do exist often simply tie down addicts or convince their parents that this is the only way they can be saved from drugs. Parents are discouraged from visiting younger addicts in these private facilities, which charge lakhs of rupees for their ‘services’.
Substances which could help drug users such as the nasal spray such as Narcan are not easily available, and in cases where they are available, they can be purchased only in injectable form. Naloxone is a substance that can break opiate addiction almost instantly, although the addict himself or herself suffers when the dose is delivered, but overdoses can be combated and life saved. According to the figures we have, 700 people die as a result of drug use or causes connected to it every day in the country.
Yet, despite these alarming figures, the problem is talked about too infrequently and certainly not widely enough. Most former users who have spoken to the media or other persons state that they began their journey into addiction because it was considered ‘cool’ or because of peer pressure. This can only be combated by educational programmes and the availability of expert mental health counsellors in schools, colleges and other places. This is too rare an occurrence and only a few schools employ such personnel.
Even in cases where lectures on drug use and the reasons for staying away from them are offered by schools, parents simply refuse to allow children to attend these sessions far too often. This is true even of the most elite private schools, with parents insisting their child would never do drugs or pick up a cigarette in his or her fingers. Young people themselves will tell a quite different story and we know from their accounts as well as the account of teachers that drug use can start as early as 13 or 14 years of age in many schools. Interestingly because of the economic setup of our country, drug use is far more common in elite private schools than in government schools or other schools attended by less privileged children.
We need to deal with the drug problem in order to build the youth bulge of the country as a truly meaningful section of the population and one which can play a key role in building the future of the country. As it is, we know that too many suffer from mental sickness including anxiety and other disorders pushed forward by the use of social media. In addition to this, drug use creates its own set of problems.
While Pakistan as a country which is a route for the export of heroin and other drugs, notably since the late 1970s when it became a major cash crop in Afghanistan, is an established source for the purchase of opiates such as heroin, too little is done to crack down on the giants behind this dangerous trade. But we need to consider how much damage this is doing.
The media and all kinds of other players, including Imams at mosques, schoolteachers, doctors, health workers and others need to be educated about the use of drugs and about recognising the signs of drug use in young people which include changes in behaviour, changes in hygiene, changes in sleeping habit and other factors which could be picked up by clinical psychologists or those who specialise in treating drug addiction. But it is necessary that we attend to these matters so that Pakistan’s upcoming youth is not sacrificed to practices which damage them and also damage their families and society as a whole.
The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor.
She can be reached at: [email protected]
