Partab Mukhi

I write to you not as an official or representative of any organization, but as a humble social worker who has spent time among the people of Tharparkar—listening, observing, and silently witnessing a crisis that is tightening its grip on our youth. With great concern and a heavy heart, I wish to draw your attention to a disturbing reality: the steady and alarming rise of substance abuse in Tharparkar. From wine; gutka and naswar to more harmful substances like hashish and even prescription drugs, addiction is no longer a hidden issue. It is visible—in the quiet desperation of a young man jobless and hopeless, in the distress of a mother watching her child slip away, and in the silence of families who have no one to turn to Recent data from national surveys show that around 6.7 million people in Pakistan use drugs, and tragically, most of them never receive any kind of treatment or support. In Tharparkar, the situation is dire. With widespread poverty, unemployment, and limited mental health resources, young people are falling through the cracks. The impact goes beyond the individual—it is affecting families, communities, and the future of the region itself What hurts the most is not just the existence of the problem, but the absence of solutions. There is no government-supported rehabilitation or mental health facility anywhere in the district. People are suffering silently, with nowhere to go and no one to guide them back to life.

Tharparkar needs a rehabilitation center—not tomorrow, but today. A center that offers treatment, counseling, awareness, and above all, hope. This one step can change hundreds of lives, reduce crime, restore families, and empower a generation that still has the potential to rise.

I humbly and sincerely request the concerned authorities to take this matter into urgent consideration. Your support can bring light to a place slowly dimming under the weight of neglect. Let Tharparkar know that it has not been forgotten.

Read: Sindh under an ‘Engineered Sleep’

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Partab Mukhi, based in Mithi District Tharparkar, is a Social Worker

The post Save Tharparkar youth from drug addiction first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By Farooque Sargani

Thana Bulakhan

In Kohistan, a rally organized by Sindhi Shahgird Tahreek (QAT) Kohistan and the indigenous people of Sarri drew a large crowd from Petrol Pump to Sarri High School, in Saeei town of Thana Bulakhan, district Jamshoro, Sindh. Participants joined in chorus, demanding action on education and drug prevention, with speakers urging authorities to: stop drug supply, appoint new teachers at Sarri High School, reopen the closed school in Thana Bola Khan, and provide basic human necessities.

Amar Mushtaq Palari, a local Kohistani school teacher and poet, highlighted staffing shortages at Sarri High School, stating that only three teachers are currently on duty. Palari urged that ten teachers should be appointed to adequately serve the students.

An organizer and central leader of Sindhi Shahgird Tahreek condemned the region’s current situation, describing Kohistan as having shifted from a peaceful area to a marketplace for drug mafias. The organizer warned that drug use in the small village of Sarri is spreading and risks jeopardizing the future generation.

Speakers asserted that the crisis is largely the result of influence by feudal lords and Sardars who are believed to support outsider mafias. They called for urgent intervention by higher authorities to appoint new teachers in Sarri High School and to halt the flow of drugs to addicts in Kohistan.

A large number of residents and supporters participated in the peaceful demonstration. Protestors carried banners and chanted slogans emphasizing education and public health: “Stop supplying drugs, appoint new teachers in school, open the closed school in Thana Bola Khan, and provide basic human necessities.”

The rally underscores ongoing concerns about educational infrastructure and drug-related issues in Kohistan, particularly in Sarri.

Addressing staffing deficiencies at Sarri High School is essential for student outcomes, while curbing drug availability is seen as critical to safeguarding the community’s future.

Authorities have not yet issued an official statement regarding the demands. The organizers indicated their intention to escalate the campaign through further peaceful actions if assurances on staffing and anti-drug measures are not forthcoming.

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Read: Stories in Stone

The post Kohistan Voices: Reopen Schools, End Drugs first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By Iqra Jokhio

Drug addiction has become a devastating disease that destroys a person physically, mentally, and spiritually. The use of intoxicating substances acts as a deadly poison for any society, as once a person falls into this trap, he becomes a burden not only on himself but also on his family and society at large. In a large and densely populated city like Karachi, the addiction to drugs has reached alarming proportions. Whether it’s the streets, underpasses, parks, or even educational institutions, young people are increasingly falling prey to this deadly curse. It is a tragic irony that the very youth who were once seen as the bright future of the nation are now losing both their present and future to this life-threatening habit.

In Karachi, the number of drug addicts is rising day by day. Many young individuals start using drugs out of mere curiosity or due to peer pressure, not realizing that this seemingly harmless experiment will soon turn into a life-consuming habit. Once addiction takes over, the individual begins to lose control over their life. Their physical health deteriorates, their mental state collapses, and their emotional ties to loved ones begin to fade. Addicts often lie, steal, and engage in criminal activities to fulfill their desires, and eventually, their character and personality fall apart. It has become a common sight in Karachi to see people sprawled out on the streets, completely consumed by drugs, presenting a shameful and heart-wrenching picture for society.

Drug addiction manifests in many forms, including the use of cannabis, heroin, crystal meth (ice), marijuana, intoxicating pills, and injections. These toxic substances are widely available in various areas of Karachi, making it frighteningly easy for anyone, especially the youth, to gain access. The most unfortunate aspect is that the people involved in selling these substances operate openly and fearlessly, while the law enforcement agencies remain passive spectators. Criminal groups targeting students in schools and colleges have become increasingly active, trapping young minds in this web of destruction. As a result, those who were meant to become the country’s pride through education and hard work are turning into criminals, thieves, or helpless individuals fighting for survival.

Often, drug addicts resort to crime to fulfill their needs. There has been a significant rise in street crimes such as theft, mobile snatching, robbery, and even violent offenses. This not only instills fear in the hearts of the public but also severely affects the peace and law-and-order situation in the city. The sight of drug-affected individuals roaming freely on Karachi’s roads raises serious questions about the effectiveness of our social and legal systems. This situation compels us to take a stand, raise our voices against this growing evil, and search for long-lasting solutions.

To tackle this serious issue, efforts need to be made on individual, collective, and governmental levels. Every segment of society must step forward to launch a strong and effective campaign against this menace. Awareness programs should be held regularly in educational institutions, and media platforms should be used to continuously spread information about the dangers and consequences of drug addiction. Parents, too, must play an active role by closely monitoring their children, maintaining friendly relationships with them, and protecting them from falling into bad company. The government must take strict action against those involved in the drug trade and also focus on upgrading and expanding rehabilitation centers to help addicts recover and reintegrate into society.

This addiction is not just harmful to the individual—it is a dangerous threat to the entire society. When a drug addict is seen lying helpless on the street, it is not just a personal tragedy, but a clear sign of our collective failure as a community. The rising trend of drug addiction in a metropolitan city like Karachi sends a dire warning: if we do not act now and take meaningful steps, the future will only bring more darkness and despair. The time has come for us to wake up to this reality, fulfill our responsibilities, and work towards building a society where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, prosperous, and purposeful life.

Read: Drug Addiction Among Youth: A Growing Crisis

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Iqra Jokhio is 2^nd year student of Mass Communication at the University of Karachi

The post Drug Addiction: The Silent Epidemic first appeared on Sindh Courier.

• Key areas identified for the operation include Shahdadkot, Qamber, and other suspected poppy-growing regions

Staff Report

Karachi, Sindh  

The illegal poppy cultivation has increased in Sindh province of Pakistan, as according to official data,   64 acres have been identified with poppy cultivation, as compared to 35.5 acres in the year 2022.

Some 35.5 acres of poppy crops were destroyed in 2022, 61 acres in 2023, and 64 acres have been identified this year for destruction. The information was shared in a meeting especially convened to take stock of the illegal cultivation of poppy in the province.

Chief Secretary Sindh Asif Hyder Shah presided over the meeting, attended by Inspector General of Police, Ghulam Nabi Memon, Secretary Excise Muhammad Saleem Rajput, Secretary Agriculture Suhail Ahmed Qureshi, Brigadier Umer Farooq (Commander ANF), and other senior officials from the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Sindh Police, Sindh Rangers, and the district administration.

During the meeting, Anti-Narcotics Force Commander Brigadier Umer Farooq informed that the 64 acres of poppy crops carry an estimated value of 650 million rupees, and emphasized the urgency and importance of eliminating this illegal cultivation.

Read: Afghan opium cultivation bouncing back amid Taliban clampdown

It was decided to launch a comprehensive operation against poppy cultivation. This operation will involve coordinated efforts by the ANF, Sindh Police, and Rangers.

Chief Secretary directed the district administrations to fully support and facilitate the forces in this endeavor.

Read: UN reports 30% increase in opium production In Afghanistan

Key areas identified for the operation include Shahdadkot, Qamber, and other suspected poppy-growing regions. Aerial surveys and ground assessments will be conducted in collaboration with the Sindh Agriculture Department, which has been requested to provide platforms for pesticide spraying.

Chief Secretary Sindh emphasized the importance of mobilizing essential resources, such as mobile health units, motorbikes, and tractors, to address challenges posed by difficult terrains and remote locations. Public awareness campaigns will also be launched to educate communities and encourage farmers to cultivate alternative crops.

Chief Secretary further stated that the provincial government remains steadfast in its commitment to eradicating illegal poppy cultivation in Sindh.

Read: Opium cultivation up in Afghanistan under Taliban rule

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• In 2023 an estimated 75,000 Americans died of fentanyl overdoses. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl—roughly equivalent to a few grains of salt—can kill you. A large number of the 2.5 million US opioid addicts are fentanyl users.

By Tom Arms

Fentanyl is a nasty synthetic opioid. It is 100 times more potent than heroin and 50 times more potent than morphine. It is, not surprisingly, also many times more addictive.

In 2023 an estimated 75,000 Americans died of fentanyl overdoses. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl—roughly equivalent to a few grains of salt—can kill you. A large number of the 2.5 million US opioid addicts are fentanyl users.

Because it is highly addictive, Fentanyl is replacing—some say has replaced—cocaine and heroin as the product of choice of the drug cartels. Heroin exports are also being laced with a grain or two of fentanyl to increase the user’s dependence on the drugs.

All of the above goes some of the way to explaining why President-elect Donald Trump has linked the totally separate issues of immigration and fentanyl exports and threatened to slap a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports unless they close down the fentanyl-producing laboratories and the smuggling operations. Of course, life is never that simple.

Let’s start with Mexico. The Mexican drug cartels are the major culprits. In the first nine months of this year, US Customs seized 16,000 pounds of fentanyl at America’s southern border. That is 7.24 billion lethal doses.

The illicit trade is dominated by the Sinalo and Jalisco New Generation cartels. They have taken the billions they have earned from drugs to invest in mining, agriculture and, of course, political respectability. They have become an integral part of the Mexican business and political establishment with legal and illegal operations in 40 countries. They will be difficult to root out. To complicate matters they operate a franchise system so that each production and smuggling operation functions separately from the center.

The Chinese were targeted by the Biden Administration, and since 2019 illegal exports of fentanyl to the US and to Mexico for transshipment to the US have dropped dramatically. But the chemical components that comprise the synthetic drug are still being shipped to Mexican Laboratories for assembly. As each of the components is completely legal it is difficult to prevent their production and export.

The illicit trade is dominated by the Sinalo and Jalisco New Generation cartels. They have become an integral part of the Mexican business and political establishment with legal and illegal operations in 40 countries

It is a bit of a mystery as to why Trump has included Canada on his list. In the first nine months of 2024 US Customs sized just 40 pounds of fentanyl heading south from America’s northern neighbor. It is also an enigma as to why Trump included Canada in his target list for illegal aliens. In 2023, US border control stopped 12,200 illegal aliens from crossing the US-Canada border. This compares to 2.48 million from Mexico. It is more likely that Trump is trying to undermine liberal icon Justin Trudeau before next year’s federal elections.

There is a further twist to the fentanyl and the general opioid story. It is an American-created problem. Fentanyl was first developed in 1960 in Belgium, by the pharmacologist Dr. Paul Janssen. He quickly licensed production to American pharmaceutical companies. One of the big financial beneficiaries was the multinational Johnson and Johnson. Woody Johnson, the heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune, is a big contributor to Donald Trump and was his ambassador in London from 2017 to 2021.

But the ones who won and lost the most as a result of the opioid crisis are the Sackler Family. Their company Purdue Pharma produced an opioid called oxycontin which they marketed as a painkiller with low risk of addiction. This was a lie and they knew it. Oxycontin earned Purdue and the Sacklers tens of billions of dollars. It also resulted in thousands of law suits which have to date cost the Sacklers $6 billion and bankrupted Purdue Pharma.

Fentanyl was developed as a painkiller for cancer patients suffering chronic pain and for those recovering from difficult and painful surgery. It is still prescribed.

But by the end of the 1990s it was being over-prescribed alongside other opioids such as morphine, oxycontin, oxycodeine, hydrocodone, buprenorphine and hydromorphine. If you went to the doctor and complained of a backache they wrote you out a prescription for an opioid. When the backache returned they wrote you another and another….

By the turn of the century America was in the midst of a full-blown opioid epidemic. The government and medical profession responded by imposing strict guidelines on the issuing of prescriptions for opioid drugs. But it was too late. When the opioids were withdrawn from the millions of medically-created addicts, the drug cartels rushed in to fill the vacuum.

In 2023, 350,000 opioid addicts—most of whom became addicted through prescription use—were being treated, mainly with methadone. But an estimated two million-plus are still addicted and obtaining fentanyl and other opioid drugs from street vendors.

World Review

Israel has won the war with Hezbollah! That is if the ceasefire recently announced takes effect as planned.

If Hezbollah has lost then so have backers Iran and the Palestinians in Gaza and on the West Bank. Hezbollah was the keystone in Iran’s “Axis of Resistance.” It effectively turned Lebanon into a buffer state between Israel and Iran.

As for the Palestinians, the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah ordered the rocket attacks on northern Israel with the promise that they would continue until there was a ceasefire in Gaza.

The ceasefire agreement makes no mention of Gaza. Israeli forces continue to fight there. Benjamin Netanyahu has severed the link between Hezbollah and Gaza and between Iran and Gaza. This has in turn given him a free hand in dealing with the Palestinians both in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel cannot launch offensive operations against Lebanon, but it has the full backing of the US to launch “defensive” operations. Israel has clearly abandoned the search for a political resolution and put all of its hopes and dreams into the military option.

He is further aided by the re-election of Donald Trump. The president=elect has been vague about his Middle East policy. He is known for his unpredictability. But the appointment of Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel provides some hints. Huckabee is opposed to the two-state solution and has hinted that he supports Israeli annexation of the West Bank and northern Gaza.

Surprisingly, opinion polls indicate that only about half of the Israeli population support the ceasefire agreement. Why is unclear.

Read: Israel warns against returning to 60 Lebanon villages

The agreement says that Israeli and Hezbollah forces must withdraw from territory between the Israeli-Lebanese border and the Litani River which is roughly 30 miles north of Israel. Hezbollah would completely disarm. The buffer zone would be occupied by 10,000 UN troops and 10,000 troops from the official Lebanese army with financial backing from the US and France.

Israel cannot launch offensive operations against Lebanon, but it has the full backing of the US to launch “defensive” operations. “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself,” said Netanyahu, “we will attack. If it tries to rebuild the terrorist infrastructure near the border we will attack. If it tries to launch a rocket. If it digs a tunnel. If it brings in a truck carrying a rocket, we will attack.”

Israel has clearly abandoned the search for a political resolution and put all of its hopes and dreams into the military option.

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The threatened 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada will hit them hard. Eighty percent of Canada’s exports are to the US. The same figure applies to Mexico.

But they will also damage the American economy. America needs Mexico’s $19 billion of machinery, electrical equipment and fruit and vegetables. About half of US fruit imports come from Mexico. And if you fancy avocados, 90 percent of America’s avocados are grown in Mexico.

Transferring that production to the U.S. would be difficult, especially since about half of the 2 million agricultural workers in the U.S. are undocumented Mexicans. At the moment they are protected by a visa system that gives legal status to agricultural workers. But Trump has vowed to end that which would seriously impact the $1.5 trillion American fruit and vegetable industry.

Undocumented workers also make up 60 percent of the work force of the construction companies in the southwest. One construction official complained that deporting them “would devastate our industry, we wouldn’t finish our highways, we wouldn’t finish our schools. New housing would simply disappear.”

Canada exports a wide range of products to the U.S., including up to 30 percent of the oil consumed by America. Refineries in the mid-west and Pacific Northwest are especially reliant on oil pipelines from Canada. GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, reckons that a 25% tax on Canadian crude oil would increase gas prices in the Midwest and the Rockies by 25 cents to 75 cents a gallon,

Canada is also the source of about a quarter of the lumber builders use in the U.S. But that is not all, Canada and the US share the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship in the world. Canadian exports of automotive parts are an essential part of Detroit’s car industry. Then there is gold, iron ore, aluminum, copper, nickel, wheat, beef, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery….

Trump’s threats would also violate the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) that Trump negotiated as a replacement for the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump called the USMCA “the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law. It’s the best agreement we’ve ever made.”

Trump apologists immediately tried to reassure the public that Trump didn’t mean it. Iowa’s Republican senator Chuck Grassley said that the tariff threats were a “negotiating tool.”

The Mexican and Canadian governments disagree. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately called a meeting of provincial premiers to deal with what he clearly regards as a crisis.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued an open letter to Trump pointing out that Mexico has developed a comprehensive immigration system that has reduced border encounters by 75% since December 2023. She hinted at retaliatory tariffs.

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Remember China’s one-child policy? It lasted quite a while, from 1979 to 2015. It was followed by the two-child policy which was succeeded by the three-child policy in 2021. Now it is basically… go wild.

The one-child policy was introduced out of a fear that China was undergoing a population explosion which indicated that every few decades the population would double. This would place an intolerable strain on food and housing.

Now the Chinese Communist Party is worried about creating more workers to service an ageing population and to maintain economic growth. Demographers reckon that each woman needs to produce 2.1 children to have a stable population. At the moment Chinese women are having an average of one each.

To try and reverse the trend the Party has introduced several pro-natalist measures. They include child tax credits; more maternity and paternity leave and, most important of all, easier access to housing loans.

But that is not all. The state is also pouring money into more marriage and relationship counsellors to try and reverse the divorce rate of two of every five marriages. It has also set up dating websites and family planning committees have been established in every neighborhood.

Banners and wall posters extoll the virtues of large families and television shows now have two, three or more children. During the one-child days school textbooks stuck to the party line with one child per couple in the early reading books. Now the cover displays the father, two children and a pregnant mother.

During the one-child policy, government health officials advised women that pregnancy reduces a woman’s intelligence. Now they have reversed that thesis. Pregnancy, now claims the party, increases intelligence, health, and longevity.

Pre-communist traditional Chinese families were large so that the children could care for the aged parents. The Party has argued that should be the case again. The problem is that China’s development has meant that millions have moved away from the family homes and into a comfortable middle-class urban life. Women, are enjoying being part of the workforce and free from domestic toil. They don’t want to go back.

Read – Observations of an Expat: Middle East Consequences

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Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice. He is also the author of “The Encyclopedia of the Cold War” and “America Made in Britain.”

The post Observations of an Expat: Fentanyl first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Karachi, Sindh

Pakistan and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched ‘Improved National Response against Drugs and Contraband Trafficking in the Maritime Domain (Phase II) at a ceremony in Karachi.

This initiative funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is a twelve-month endeavor aimed at enhancing Pakistan’s maritime capabilities to combat drug and contraband trafficking, said a UNODC statement on Friday.

The project will be jointly implemented by UNODC Pakistan (COPAK) and UNODC’s Global Maritime Crime Program (GMCP).

The ceremony was co-chaired by Rear Admiral of Pakistan Navy Imtiaz Ali – Director General Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA), and Chargé d’affaires (CDA) of the United States Mission in Pakistan Andrew Schofer who joined with other notable dignitaries from UNODC, INL, Pakistan Coast Guards (PCG), and the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

In his remarks, Dr. Jeremy Milsom, UNODC COPAK representative highlighted the agency ‘s collaboration with the Ministry of Narcotics Control during the design and implementation of the Phase I Project (October 2020 to March 2023).

“The UNODC is adopting a holistic approach to support the Government of Pakistan in addressing diverse drugs and crime challenges more effectively both domestically and by fostering Pakistan’s partnership at various regional and international forums,” he added.

Addressing the ceremony, Dr. Milsom said that while fully aligned with UNODC’s global and country strategies, this Phase II project would greatly complement the government’s vision and ongoing efforts to strengthen Pakistan’s border management, drug supply reduction, and the rule of law – aimed at creating a secure environment for the Pakistani people.

David O’Connell, GMCP’s Program Coordinator, delivered a comprehensive presentation on the threat dynamics related to the smuggling of drugs and other items through Pakistan.

He highlighted the achievements of the Phase I Project which aligned with the Government of Pakistan’s strategic priorities for border management.

O’Connell also provided an overview of the Phase II Project, detailing its intended outcomes such as ‘Improvements to interagency coordination between Pakistan’s maritime law enforcement agencies’; enhancing cooperation between Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies and their regional counterparts; and increasing the capability of Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies in detecting, deterring, and disrupting drugs and contraband trafficking through coastal areas and maritime domain.

In his remarks, Andrew Schofer emphasized that insuring a secure maritime environment is not only a priority for Pakistan, but a global imperative, as drug trafficking and smuggling contribute to instability and jeopardize the security of nations worldwide.

“By confronting these issues head-on, we are contributing to a safer and more prosperous future for all” while highlighting the 77 years of partnership between the Governments of the United States and Pakistan, and the 42 years of the U.S. Mission to Pakistan’s security assistance through INL,” he added.

Rear Admiral Imtiaz Ali, for his part, said that due to its geographical disposition, Pakistan has long been exposed to the negative impacts of illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances from Afghanistan.

“As a signatory to the three United Nations drug conventions, the government of Pakistan envisions a healthier Pakistani nation – that is free from the menace of drug trafficking and the ill effects on health caused by using narcotics drugs,” he observed .

Opiates and synthetic drugs produced in Afghanistan are transported through the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to various destination countries in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, he went on to say.

Pakistan, therefore, continues to serve as the first line of defense against a massive outflow of narcotic drugs from Afghanistan – that threatens security throughout our region and beyond, Ali further said. (PR)

Read: Has a War on Drugs Ever Been Won?

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New York

Methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and neighboring countries is surging, according to a report published on Sunday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Understanding Illegal Methamphetamine Manufacture in Afghanistan, highlights a drastic increase in seizures of the drug, from 2.5 tons in 2017 to 29.7 tons in 2021.

In its street drug form, meth or “crystal meth” it is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant that impacts the central nervous system and can cause a rapid or irregular heartbeat.

Seizures suspected to originate in Afghanistan have been reported as far away as Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia, and the European Union.

‘Rapidly changing’ markets

The UNODC findings further suggest that heroin trafficking has continued, although at a lower rate, following the Taliban drug ban in April 2022.

The drastic increase in meth seizures in Afghanistan and neighboring countries indicates that trafficking is expanding, rapidly changing illicit drug markets traditionally dominated by opiates hailing from Afghanistan.

“The surge in methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and the region suggests a significant shift in the illicit drug market and demands our immediate attention.

“Regional coordination targeting the diversion and smuggling of chemical precursors is essential to stopping the continued expansion of illicit methamphetamine manufacture in and around Afghanistan,” said Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC.

“This new UNODC report aims to provide the international community with vital information to tackle the growing synthetic drug threat.”

Rise of synthetics

The report also analyses the different chemicals used to produce the drug. Coverage of suspected meth manufacturing in Afghanistan has often focused on the use of the ephedra plant, which grows abundantly in the region and contains ephedrines – a chemical that can be extracted to make the drug.

Although ephedra is cheaper to use in the short-term, common cold medications and industrial-grade chemicals are more efficient and cost-effective for meth manufacturing and thus pose a far bigger risk, the report warns.

Such chemicals are legally produced and traded in large quantities in the region and are often easily accessible to drug producers.

The report notes that an over-emphasis on ephedra risks undermining effective law enforcement responses, which need to focus on preventing and curbing the diversion and smuggling of bulk chemical precursors, as well.

Regional approach

The report emphasizes that regionally coordinated policing efforts may be more effective in preventing and curbing the long-term expansion of illicit meth manufacture in Afghanistan and the wider region.

UNODC will publish its annual Afghanistan opium cultivation survey next month.

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Courtesy: UN News (Posted on September 11, 2023)

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Tashkent

Samarkand will open the first pharmaceutical plant for the production of drugs from blood plasma, the press service of the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan reports.

The Ministry held talks with the Chinese delegation, as a result of which the parties reached an agreement on the implementation of an investment project for $250 million in the Urgut free economic zone.

The plant will be the first in Central Asia to produce drugs from blood plasma, which will cover the demand within the country and will serve to reduce imports.

The need for high-quality blood components has increased dramatically in recent years, which is explained by the introduction of complex surgical operations, the ministry explained. For example, a liver transplant requires up to 30 liters of blood plasma.

In total, 128 billion soums were allocated for the development of hematology and blood transfusion services in Uzbekistan. Now 67 blood-based drugs are mainly imported into the republic from abroad.

Earlier it was reported that honorary donors in Uzbekistan will triple their remuneration. The President also decreed to introduce privileges for holders of the corresponding badge.

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Courtesy: Central Asian Light (Posted on June 28, 2023)

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The data shows that no main supplier or the manufacturer of the mainpuri, gutka or any other drugs have been arrested by the police

Sindh Courier

Karachi, Sindh

The district administration and Hyderabad police have launched a grand operation against Mainpuri, Gutka and 144 accused were arrested and 119 cases registered across the district during last 36 hours, Sindh Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon claimed in his tweet on Friday.

He said that 2 cases have been registered against the drug peddlers in the city police station and 2 accused have been arrested. Six cases were registered at Fort police station and 6 accused were arrested. One case has been registered at market police station and 2 persons arrested, while 3 accused arrested by Sakhi Peer Police and 3 cases registered, 3 cases registered in Cantonment police station and 3 persons arrested, one accused arrested by GOR police and one case registered.

Similarly, 7 people were arrested and 6 cases were registered in Phuleli, 14 accused were arrested and 8 cases registered at Pinyari police station, minister added.

The provincial minister said that 11 people have been arrested and 9 cases registered in A-section police station, 3 cases registered against the accused involved in drug trade at the airport police station and 2 arrests were made.

Seven drug peddlers arrested and 5 cases registered at Heerababad police station; 3 arrested and 2 cases registered at B-Section police Station; 10 arrested and 7 cases registered at Qasimabad while Naseem Nagar police arrested 5 and registered 5 cases; Baldia police arrested 5 and registered 4 cases ; Bhitai Nagar Police arrested one accused and registered 1 case; 14 accused arrested by Hali Road police and registered 11 cases, Miran Shah Police arrested 1 accused and registered 1 case, Site police station arrested 4 people and registered 5 cases.

The Tando Yusuf police arrested 6 accused and registered 6 cases, Tando Jam police arrested 9 accused and registered 7 cases, Rahooki police arrested 1 accused and registered 1 case. Ten people have been arrested by Hussri police and registered 7 cases, Pabban police arrested 10 and registered 6 cases, and 2 cases in Chhalgri police station have also been registered while Hattri police have arrested 8 drug peddlers and registered 7 cases.

The provincial information minister said that 12255 kg hashish, 750 ice packets have been recovered from the accused; the police have also recovered 17722 mainpuri and 67123 packets of gutka from the accused persons.

He said that the police have also seized 295 liters liquor bottles and 127 pints.

Minister said that journalists’ organizations and traders’ associations have also been taken on board to make the ongoing campaign against drugs in Hyderabad a success. He appealed citizens and civil society organizations to support the government in this campaign so as to protect young generation from the scourge of drugs.

However, the data released by the minister shows that no main supplier or the manufacturer of the mainpuri, gutka or any other drugs have been arrested by the police.

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The post Crackdown on Drug Peddlers launched in Hyderabad first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Mike Jay, Author of Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic (Yale University Press, 2021)

It could be argued that the first few decades of Britain’s war on drugs were a success. The prohibition of opiates and cocaine by the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1920 was directed at their use by ‘problematic’ groups – ethnic minorities, bohemians, deviants – and intended to stop it spreading to the law-abiding majority. By and large it achieved this aim, though like most drug prohibitions it could also be viewed as a drug substitution. After the rise of Islam, for example, when alcohol was banned across most of the Arab world, its function as a social lubricant was replaced by other intoxicants: coffee, hashish, khat or kola nut. Opiates were replaced in early 20th-century Britain by barbiturates; cocaine by amphetamines.

In 1961 the global prohibition was consolidated in the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Ironically, this was precisely the moment when the consensus that supported it began to unravel. A new postwar generation, raised as global consumers, awoke to the fact that alcohol was not the world’s only intoxicant. Substances that their parents had considered to be ‘dope’ – of interest only to degenerates and foreigners – held no such stigma for them.

By the time Richard Nixon declared a ‘War on Drugs’ in 1971 it was effectively lost. Prohibitions can be effective at nipping nascent demand in the bud, but once supply and demand are firmly established their effects become counterproductive. The value of drugs soared and the booming trade was taken over by organized crime. Law enforcement was unable to significantly disrupt the consensual networks of buyers and sellers, becoming corrupted in the process: a consequence all too familiar from the US prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1986 the activist Richard Cowan formulated The Iron Law of Prohibition: ‘The harder the enforcement, the harder the drugs.’ The war on drugs prompted a transition towards crack, methamphetamine and fentanyl.

In 1998 the UN Office of Drug Control convened its General Assembly under the slogan ‘A Drug Free World: We Can Do It’. Its World Drug Report for 2022 shows that the number of people using them has increased by 26 per cent in the last decade.

‘As is often the case with wars, the stated objectives are not always the real goals’

Maziyar Ghiabi,Author of Drugs Politics: Managing Disorder in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2019)

A war on drugs is a peculiar inclination of modern states. Of course, in pre-modern times rulers could, and did, declare restrictions, but never with the systematic rationale has that defined contemporary prohibitions.

In the early 17th century the Ottoman sultan Murad IV made drinking coffee an offence punishable by death because he worried that coffeehouses were responsible for the decay of ethics within the empire. Catholic missionaries persecuted indigenous Mexican communities for their use of peyote, a sacred cactus, referring to it as ‘the devil’s herb’. In 1890 Shia clerics encouraged large swathes of Iranians to boycott tobacco in response to Naser al-Din Shah’s concession to the British trader G.F. Talbot. It is speculated that even the shah’s harem refused to indulge in smoking during the boycott.

By the 20th century many states were regulating and prohibiting substances under the banner of ‘drugs’, using militaristic means to fight consumption, trade and production. If the objective of this war on drugs was to prevent the proliferation of mind-altering substances, then there can be little doubt that it has miserably failed. However, as is often the case with wars, the stated objectives are not always the real goals.

In Colombia, for instance, chemical fumigation and special military operations against cocaleros has been part of the United States’ strategy of preventing left-wing, rural communities from asserting a political agenda. Throughout its occupation of Afghanistan, the US carried out military operations to fight drug production. But it also made concessions to local elites involved in the poppy economy – as long as they supported the anti-Taliban coalition. From the fall of the Taliban in 2001 to its return to power in 2021 Afghanistan became the world’s largest producer of opium and heroin and a hotspot for methamphetamine.

One defining element of the war on drugs is its role in the making of modern carceral institutions, the population of which is made up by a majority of drug-related convicts across the world. If that’s not a failure, one wonders what is.

‘Control over opium meant control over trade’

Xun Zhou, Co-author of Narcotic Culture: A History of Drugs in China (Hurst, 2016)

Opium first arrived in China with Arab merchants. In 1729 the Yongzheng emperor issued a ban on smoking madak, a blend of opium and tobacco, comparing indulgence in the drug to a heretic religion. The ban was ineffective.

The quality of opium improved in the 1790s, after the British East India Company acquired a monopoly over its cultivation and production in Bengal. The improvement in quality fuelled demand. During the course of the 19th century opium smoking became a socially accepted form of recreation across the Qing Empire. Once a symbol of wealth and power, opium soon became power itself. Control over opium meant control over trade and therefore control over society. In 1839 the Daoguang Emperor opted for a strict prohibition, ordering the surrender of every last ounce of opium in Canton at three days’ notice. This ultimately escalated into the First Opium War. Opium was claimed to have turned China into a nation of hopeless addicts, smoking themselves to death while their civilization descended into chaos.

As anti-opium sentiment intensified in China, the opium trade became ever more lucrative. The prohibition by the Qing imperial government resulted in many Chinese, including senior officials, turning to smuggling, often supplied and supported by British merchants. Official attempts to police the bloodstream of the nation brought corruption and a black market. Instead of containing the drug, it created a drug problem.

At the end of the 19th century morphine, heroin and many other more powerful new substances flooded the market. Many of them first emerged as cures for opium addiction. In the first half of the 20th century thousands of opium smokers died in detoxification centers and prisons across China. Yan Fu, the renowned modernizer, was among them. Yan had smoked opium habitually to treat his severe asthma. Compelled to give it up, he died of an asthma attack.

As is the case in the rest of the world, the war on drugs in China has been fought with limited success, but it continues to be fought. China is now the world’s largest market for cigarettes and the leading tobacco producer. The health risks from smoking tobacco are well known. That the Chinese government might wage a ‘war on tobacco’ is not unthinkable.

‘Winning a war on drugs is impossible, if victory requires elimination’

Elizabeth K. Gray, Author of Habit Forming: Drug Addiction in America, 1776-1914 (Oxford University Press, forthcoming)

I understand why Richard Nixon asserted in 1971 that his administration would ‘fight and defeat’ the ‘enemy’ of drug abuse with a global ‘offensive’. His language conveyed that he took the issue seriously and believed that such a war could be won. But while some policies can diminish the negative impact of drug use on users and their communities, ‘winning’ a war on drugs is impossible, if victory requires eliminating drug use. Many political leaders, however, have pursued such a victory.

People have enjoyed the effects of psychoactive substances for millennia. In ancient Mesopotamia, Sumerians may have called the opium poppy the ‘joy plant’. Later, some leaders feared the effects of its use. In 1360 the Thai king Ramathibodi I banned the sale and consumption of opium, which merchants had introduced in the previous century. Such use, he feared, impeded the concentration necessary for Buddhist meditation. Violators were publicly shamed and imprisoned until they detoxified. For some rulers, no penalty was too harsh. In 1840 the Vietnamese king Minh Mang imposed the death penalty on ship owners involved in the opium trade.

One might assume that punitive laws would work, but their impact is complex. Imposing harsh penalties on sales of an item increases its value on the illicit market. Meanwhile, drug use changes users’ brains. Losing access to their drug can feel akin to starvation; addicts will go to extreme lengths to obtain it.

Some drugs lose popularity, and use can decrease, but a drug-free society does not emerge. The temperance movement reduced alcohol consumption in 19th-century America, but the non-medical use of opiates increased in tandem. In The Chemistry of Common Life, written in 1855, James F. Johnston noted that all populations – including those ‘from the most distant times’ – sought relief in recreational drug use. ‘The craving for such indulgence, and the habit of gratifying it’, he insisted, were ‘universal’.

Evidence now indicates that short, immediate jail sentences curb drug use more effectively than the threat of years in prison. Ironically, the best way to fight the ‘war on drugs’ is to throw out the ‘war’ imagery and adopt a more supportive approach.

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Courtesy: History Today (Published on September 9, 2022)

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