Moalims

ISLAMABAD:
A conference held by Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) on Wednesday called for declaring educational institutes smoke-free in order to curb the use of drugs by students.

The purpose of the conference was to devise a mutual framework in collaboration with educational institutions to protect the youth from the menace of drugs. The conference was chaired by ANF DG Major General Khawar Hanif and attended by ANF’s international partners, NCD, Ministry of Health, Federal Directorate of Education, heads and representatives of universities, medical colleges, leading schools, academic institutions, psychologists and psychiatrists.

In his opening address, the ANF DG highlighted the importance of the forum in implementing the vision of “Drug Free Society”, noting that the educators play the most important role in children’s’ lives as mentors and cumulatively nation builders. He said that the magnitude of drug threat to human security is far more serious than considered. “Drugs are silently killing far more people than terrorism and rendering millions useless to society; youth being most vulnerable to this menace. Drug abuse exacerbates juvenile crime rates and fosters low educational achievements,” Hanif said.

Government efforts alone cannot address drug spread in educational institutions, as it is basically a societal setback that has emerged from feeble social bond and fuelled by peer pressure, low self-esteem, stress, frustration, curiosity and communal surrounds, he said, adding that drug threat to students can effectively be addressed by dedicated and involved faculty, since students respond more to teachers than parents. The ANF DG said there is a dire need to devise a workable cogent strategy to counter prevalence of narcotics in and around our academic institutions.

ANF Commander North Brigadier Muhammad Ramzan Gill presented an overview of the prevalent drug environment. The presentation was followed by discussion on agenda of the conference, which mainly focused on devising joint mechanism, areas of cooperation, reasons of addiction, remedial measures, effective control and nomination of focal persons.

The participants gave a number of suggestions that included declaring educational institutions as smoke-free zones, installation of security cameras for addict profiling, employ psychiatrists an psychologists in academic institutions and confidential sharing of information with ANF.

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