The Dark World of Narcotics By Aziz Sanghur

The Dark World of Narcotics is a short documentary, produced, directed and written by Aziz Sanghur. Mr. Sanghur is a documentary film-maker from Pakistan. The documentary shows that Pakistan has eight million addicts of narcotics and drug users. Not only are many of these addicts a burden in terms of economy, they also pose a danger to society when they take to crime in order to sustain their addiction. Drug production for Pakistan's domestic market is estimated at close to $1.5 billion. It appears that only three percent of the gross profits from the illegal opium industry remain within Pakistan. Afghanistan tops the Poppy Cultivation countries. Along side the Pak-Afghan border cultivation of Poppy has increased despite ongoing war against terrorism in that area, adding anti narcotics department of Pakistan has rooted out the poppy cultivation from tribal areas. Pakistan is today notorious for many things, but in the last 20 years, drug production and addiction has increasingly become just one of them. The issue of drug addiction is often overshadowed by the many of the country's other human development problems, such as poverty, illiteracy and lack of basic health care. But the fact is, drug abuse is rapidly growing in Pakistan and in South Asia in general. While Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Maldives all suffer from this, Pakistan is the worst victim of the narcotics trade in South Asia. Today, the country has the largest heroin consumer market in the south-west Asia region. It wasn't always this way. Pakistan became a major exporter of heroin in the 1980s, following the influx of Afghan refugees. The major consequence of this has been a significant increase in domestic consumption of heroin in Pakistan. Heroin was once upon a time a drug which was virtually unknown in the country until the late 1970s. Today, Pakistan is not only one of the main exporters of heroin, it has also become a net importer of drugs. It is estimated that about 50 tons of opium are smuggled into Pakistan for processing heroin for domestic use. Almost 80 percent of the opium processed in Pakistan comes from neighboring countries. Widespread drug abuse may be indicated by the fact that almost five percent of the adult population is using drugs in Pakistan. As a proportion of drug abusers, heroin users have increased from 7.5 percent in 1983 to a shocking 51 percent a decade later in 1993. Although almost all South Asian countries have enacted strict laws for fighting drug trafficking and drug use, these measures have produced very disappointing results. One problem is that corruption has also touched the fight against drug abuse in Pakistan and other South Asian countries, since drug traffickers often escape punishment by giving bribes to get out of being held accountable for their actions. Teenage girls are likely to abuse substances in order to lose weight, relieve stress or boredom, improve their mood, reduce sexual inhibitions, self-medicate depression and increase confidence. Women who seek treatment for alcohol and drug problems report a connection among domestic violence, childhood abuse, and substance abuse. One woman said she had suffered from physical, mental and financial abuse before turning to drugs. "I don't know why I didn't realise it", the woman, 42, said of her addiction, but "I didn't deserve what my husband put me through". Drug addiction has increased steadily among girls and women. The youth of today are a pathetic sight. Greater attention is being paid to create awareness among the people about the dangers of narcotics abuse and the ways to avoid it. Women, especially young girls belonging to "elite backgrounds", are becoming addicts. Some women are not aware of the narcotics they are taking.