Interview with narcotics control official

With over half a million heroin addicts, and renewed poppy cultivation in parts of the country, Pakistan faces a huge drug problem despite official claims of one of the highest interdiction rates, together with neighbouring Iran. In a recent interview with IRIN, Muhammad Aziz Khan, the secretary of the drugs control ministry, stressed that the government was addressing the issue of the resurgence of poppy cultivation in the country. He hoped that Pakistan might become poppy free as early as this year. QUESTION: What are your major concerns regarding drugs in Pakistan today? ANSWER: The problem of drugs has been with us longer than anybody can remember. It has been with us for longer than the creation of Pakistan [in 1947], because one the major drugs of the world, which is cannabis, has been prevalent all along. It has been around for centuries. So has opium, which has been around for centuries too. The eating of opium was a common addiction in this part of the world. However, what became a real serious issue was the expanding growth of the poppy crop in the 1970s, reaching its maximum figure of production of about 800 mt in 1978. That was the period, which became an issue of concern for not only the government, but the people of Pakistan and the international community as well. It is from there onwards that the problem of addiction went into a real serious uphill climb. Q: There are reports that poppy cultivation has restarted in parts of the country. How are you addressing that issue? A: This is concentrated primarily in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the adjacent Tribal Areas. These areas are very difficult to reach and are scattered over very small pockets. The resurgence of growth of poppy this year is primarily in those areas, which are bordering Afghanistan and which have been disturbed from by events in Afghanistan over the last two years. It is an issue of serious concern for us, and it is a difficult problem to get at. However, having said that we are determined. Where there has been growth in various [tribal] agencies, we have succeeded in eradicating it physically by going into the fields, either convincing the growers to eradicate it themselves or to destroy the crops. Even then, we feel that in one or two areas we may not completely succeed. We have to first of all motivate the growers to destroy it themselves. We have to motivate the inhabitants in that area to bring pressure on their peers and own people. Q: As we have seen in Afghanistan, there has not been much response to alternative crops. Do you use the Islamic line? What are your tactics here? A: We use the Islamic line, definitely, because that goes a long way. We impress upon the people that our religion does not allow this, and that is a very strong argument which is convincing the locals to do away with the crop. However, economics is the major issue in this whole game, and sometimes we don't succeed. We have in the past used force as a last resort. We have used elements of the Frontier Constabulary [a paramilitary border police]. We have used the police as well and we have arrested large numbers of people under the Control of Narcotics Subsistence Act. The process of the law has been initiated. Community motivation is the most effective method, and that we found out in the last 20 years of experience. In these ways we brought down poppy cultivation from 800 mt to six mt. And we are hoping that it would have been zero, absolutely zero, this year, had there been community motivation. Q: Pakistan has one of the highest heroin-addiction rates. What is the government doing to stop such an alarming trend? A: We have got a very disturbing addiction rate as far heroin is concerned, and it has been growing. It started practically from zero in 1970s, and now we have half a million confirmed heroin users. One of the problems which we face is that our neighbouring county [Afghanistan]is producing 80 percent of the world's illicit opium. One of the things which has come to our attention is that such illicit opium is smuggled through the countries bordering Afghanistan, which include Pakistan Iran and countries to the north, and one of the modes of payment is in kind instead of cash. They are providing drug smugglers with a percentage of the product they are smuggling. Since these are local smugglers, they are marketing these products within all the countries in the neighbourhood. It is not only Pakistan, but unfortunately it is Iran, and the countries to the north, which are lately facing an increasing use of opium. It is very disturbing for us. Q: You have maintained that, in terms of seizures, Pakistan is among the top countries in the world. However, heroin and other drugs continue to be easily available to addicts in the country. What's your reaction to that? A: We have amongst the best interdiction results in the world. In Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan now, we have seized more drugs than the rest of the world combined. Last year we seized 7,500 kg of heroin. The higher seizures are an indication that more drugs are coming to Pakistan and are getting through. Reasonable percentages of these drugs are marketed by the mafias or whoever controls this trade within Pakistan. Q: According to the UN International Drugs Control Programme [UNDCP], there is an increasing trend towards injecting drug use in the country, which can potentially spread the pandemic of HIV/AIDS. How are you addressing that? A: We have had the beginnings of intravenous drug use recently, particularly in the cities of Lahore and Karachi. As elsewhere in the world, it has always been a concern for us, given the fact that AIDS is looming on the horizon, and the experience of other countries has been that you have one case of AIDS in a country, and it spreads. It's something of a concern and UNAIDS is trying to identify these areas and to deal with it. We have two projects in Karachi, where they are working with some NGOs and with us in finding out as to how bad the situation is. Fortunately, they have not come up with a single case of HIV/AIDS in the population where they have the needle supply programme. It's also something that the ministry of health is dealing with. Q: How much international assistance do you receive in your efforts for drug control, and do you need more international help in specific fields? A: We have substantial aid in the crops-substitution programmes. We had a lot of aid coming in from the US, UN and the UK. Last year we received some US $10 million in assistance from the US for a project in the Tribal Area of Khyber. This has been a very significant increase. They have been supporting us with similar projects in other Tribal Areas, such as Bajaur and Momand. The US is also substantially funding the Anti Narcotics Force. Q: Drug addicts are seen to be treated generally with apathy in Pakistan. Do you have enough rehabilitation facilities, and do you have some strategy to confront the social challenges arising out of drug abuse problems in this conservative Islamic country? A: We are identifying about 17 drug rehabilitation units in the country. Some of them are in the government hospitals and some are going to be established by the NGOs. They are going to be model centres, and we hope to expand [them] in the future. Q: The UNDCP says that there is a huge problem of people eating opium in the Afghan refugee camps for medicinal purposes. What is the government doing about this? A: Opium is very much available in the market. Given the fact that the region had been producing huge amounts for this, Afghan refugee camps in particular had easy access to opium. As you know, opium had been used for treating common ailments for ages. We have a very limited control over the camps, and I imagine that within the camps the Afghan refugee elders are doing that. Q: Given the enormous challenges ahead, how optimistic are you that Pakistan will be poppy free? A: I am very optimistic. We have come a long way. The government is very committed and hopes we will even succeed this year. If we don't, next year we will be poppy free.