PESHAWAR:The third phase of the Drug-Free Peshawar campaign of taking the remaining few hundred drug addicts from the roads of the city and shifting them to rehabilitation centers would begin in February.
The decision was taken during a meeting held here with Commissioner Peshawar Division, Riaz Khan Mehsud in the chair on Thursday. Besides, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Peshawar, Shafiullah Khan, officers of the Social Welfare, and Excise Department, and the administrative officers of other concerned organizations also attended.
They decided that after completely cleansing the roads of drug addicts, those addicts which are inside their houses would also be shifted to rehabilitation centres.
The meeting was told about the historic success achieved during the first two phases of the campaign during which 2500 rehabilitated drug addicts have rejoined their families. Only 15 rehabilitated drug addicts had restarted addiction and once again shifted to rehabilitation centres.
The participants of the meeting were of the view that those who returned to drug addiction were due to the lack of interest by their families and hinted at taking action against such families to recover expenses incurred on the treatment of their family members.
The meeting also finalized preparations for the third phase of the campaign and conducted surveys regarding drug addicts during nighttime. The commissioner has also directed the furnishing of daily reports in this regard.