Drug abuse in Pakistan - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

MAPPING THE NATIONAL CONTOURS OF DRUG ABUSE
Table 8.
Perceptions of short-term trends <strong>in</strong> drug use <strong>in</strong> the locales (last year)
Decreased Decreased Increased Increased Don’t
<strong>Drug</strong> type a lot a little No change a little a lot know
Hashish and charas 9 (3%) 24 (9%) 58 (21%) 90 (33%) 91 (33%) 4 (1%)
Hero<strong>in</strong> 22 (8%) 62 (23%) 50 (18%) 73 (27%) 53 (19%) 12 (4%)
Opium 14 (5%) 33 (13%) 143 (55%) 38 (15%) 8 (3%) 26 (10%)
Other opiates 3 (1%) 9 (4%) 51 (21%) 30 (12%) 20 (8%) 130 (54%)
Cough syrups 5 (2%) 11 (5%) 40 (17%) 32 (13%) 23 (10%) 128 (54%)
Psychotropics 2 (1%) 6 (2%) 42 (16%) 99 (38%) 61 (24%) 49 (19%)
<strong>Drug</strong> <strong>in</strong>jection 1 (>1%) 10 (4%) 38 (15%) 75 (30%) 27 (11%) 97 (39%)
Solvents 2 (>1%) 3 (1%) 39 (16%) 48 (20%) 17 (7%) 133 (55%)
Alcohol 4 (>1%) 23 (8%) 95 (35%) 78 (29%) 64 (24%) 7 (3%)
Table 9.
Perceptions of short-term trends <strong>in</strong> drug <strong>abuse</strong> (last year): overall rat<strong>in</strong>gs
<strong>Drug</strong> type All Urban Rural Punjab S<strong>in</strong>dh Balochistan NWFP
Hashish and charas 8.5 8.2 9.1 6.7 7.8 8.3 11.1
Hero<strong>in</strong> 2.8 2.5 3.5 (–0.9) 5.6 13.1 0.8
Opium (–0.3) (–0.6) 0.4 0.3 (–0.4) 4.8 (–2.5)
Other opiates 4.9 6.0 0.8 8.5 2.9 0.0 0.8
Cough syrups
(for <strong>in</strong>toxication) 5.1 5.2 4.8 10.2 (–2.9) 0.0 1.9
Psychotropics 10.0 10.2 9.7 11.7 12.2 3.3 8.4
<strong>Drug</strong> <strong>in</strong>jection 7.7 8.3 6.1 9.0 8.5 8.6 0.0
Solvents (glue, etc) 6.9 6.8 7.0 9.4 4.3 1.2 5.0
Alcohol 6.6 7.6 4.8 7.8 10.0 4.6 4.5
Note: Positive values <strong>in</strong>dicate reports of overall <strong>in</strong>creases <strong>in</strong> <strong>abuse</strong> levels and negative values decreases <strong>in</strong> <strong>abuse</strong>.
High overall scores were also found for upward
trends <strong>in</strong> the use of psychotropic drugs. Given the
earlier f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs that these drugs are reported as the
most commonly used drug type by women this may
imply that drug <strong>abuse</strong> among women <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong> is
<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g. Data <strong>in</strong> this report do not explore the
use of psychoactive substance by women <strong>in</strong> any
great detail. However, data do suggest that this is a
topic that merits further attention.
Perceptions of trends <strong>in</strong> drug <strong>abuse</strong> over the last
year were also explored. This is a topic <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong>
the UNDCP annual reports questionnaire (ARQ).
<strong>Drug</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation systems often report on yearly
trends so these data may have utility for any future
on-go<strong>in</strong>g drug <strong>abuse</strong> monitor<strong>in</strong>g activity <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>.
Data from the whole sample can be found <strong>in</strong> table 8,
urban versus rural comparisons <strong>in</strong> annex table A.II.5
and prov<strong>in</strong>cial breakdowns <strong>in</strong> annex table A.II.6.
Once more, an overall rat<strong>in</strong>g has been calculated to
summarize these data and this can be found <strong>in</strong>
annex table A.II.9.
The overall picture of perceived short-term trends
broadly corresponds to the data for trends over the
longer time period. As noted above, trends <strong>in</strong>
hero<strong>in</strong> <strong>abuse</strong>, with the exception of Balochistan,
appear flat or even down slightly (Punjab). <strong>Drug</strong>
<strong>in</strong>jection is regarded as <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g, as is hashish and
charas <strong>abuse</strong> and aga<strong>in</strong> psychotropic drugs receive
a particularly high score on the overall rat<strong>in</strong>g for a
ris<strong>in</strong>g short-term trend.
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