ABBOTTABAD:District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Tufail Gandapur on Friday warned that drug use had increased in society and urged to make a joint effort to stop this menace.
He said on a priority basis, police had made Abbottabad a drug-free zone.
He expressed these views after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Abbottabad Psychiatric Center at Abbottabad Press Club.
He further said that after assuming the charge as DPO in Abbottabad, 165 cases had been registered against drug dealers and peddlers, and a huge quantity of drugs was recovered.
Umar Tufail Gandapur said that the drug mafia was taking advantage of loopholes in the investigation even in the court. He said that the use of drugs was increasing not only in higher education institutions but also in schools, and the “cooperation of the media is essential to end this menace and support the police”.
Prof. Dr Aftab Alam, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Ayub Medical College Abbottabad said that addiction had reached the homes and now even small children had fallen prey to it, adding boys and girls from elite families were using drugs in boarding schools. All segments of society should come together and join hands to generate awareness among the youth, he stressed.
Dr Aftab said that efforts were afoot to establish a drug center at the official level, adding there was no center for people suffering from drug addiction in Hazara. Patients were sent to Peshawar or other provinces where the majority cannot afford the treatment, he underlined. Dr Aftab Rabbani has assured cooperation to Abbottabad Police in conducting awareness seminars.
Head of Psychiatric Center Sardar Waheed, SP Cantt Aitzaz Ahmed President Abbottabad Press Club Sardar Naveed Alam, and General Secretary Sardar Shafiq were also present on the occasion.