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

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DRUG ABUSE IN PAKISTAN of addiction have not been so precisely expressed nor were they built <strong>in</strong>to the calculations from the outset, as this study has done. There is large geographic variation <strong>in</strong> the density of hard-core drug use across <strong>Pakistan</strong>, <strong>in</strong> particular the difference between urban and rural rates <strong>in</strong> some prov<strong>in</strong>ces. To allow for these variations <strong>in</strong> prevalence rates is difficult, and failure to do so adequately could produce mislead<strong>in</strong>g results. The results <strong>in</strong> this report have been adjusted as closely as possible us<strong>in</strong>g available data to capture this variation. With<strong>in</strong> some cities the prevalence rate is estimated to be very high, possibly as great as 4%, compared with about 0.5% <strong>in</strong> some rural areas, for males <strong>in</strong> the target age-band. These figures—1 male <strong>in</strong> every 25 <strong>in</strong> the age-band—by most countries’ standards would be considered unrealistically high, but it should be borne <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d that these are likely maximum figures that are be<strong>in</strong>g quoted for the worst affected <strong>Pakistan</strong> cities. Even so, previous reports of hero<strong>in</strong> addiction <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong> were considerably higher aga<strong>in</strong>, and as a result fell a long way short of achiev<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>ternational credibility. The overall prevalence expressed <strong>in</strong> terms of the whole population of <strong>Pakistan</strong> is around one third of one per cent and is not out of l<strong>in</strong>e with other countries express<strong>in</strong>g prevalence rates of one quarter or one half of one per cent. There are various special considerations relat<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>Pakistan</strong> <strong>in</strong> term of the country’s age structure that make such <strong>in</strong>ternational comparisons difficult to <strong>in</strong>terpret, but the provisional figures suggest that, <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>ternational sett<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>Pakistan</strong> has one of the highest rates of drug addiction. 58
9 <strong>Drug</strong> <strong>abuse</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>: the implications of the <strong>Pakistan</strong> national assessment study Comparisons with the earlier national assessment studies Comparisons of the data presented here can be made with the f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs of the earlier assessment studies but caution is required as the earlier work tended not always to differentiate between drug types (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g alcohol) and the sampl<strong>in</strong>g strategy varies between these studies. Nonetheless, sufficient comparable <strong>in</strong>formation is available to draw some conclusions on changes <strong>in</strong> patterns and trends <strong>in</strong> drug <strong>abuse</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>. With respect to the overall pattern of drug <strong>abuse</strong> <strong>in</strong> the country, <strong>in</strong> 1982 hashish and charas, which we will refer to here for convenience as cannabis, was estimated to be the most commonly consumed illicit substance. The 1982 study estimated that 3.4% of the adult male population was us<strong>in</strong>g this drug. The later surveys suggest that hero<strong>in</strong> use overtook cannabis use around 1986. Cannabis <strong>abuse</strong> was reported to have decl<strong>in</strong>ed between 1982 and 1986 but subsequently to have slowly risen after this date, although rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g at a lower consumption level than for hero<strong>in</strong>. The current study does not stand <strong>in</strong> conflict with this analysis, neither does it necessarily support it: with respect to the direction of trends it may well be that cannabis use decl<strong>in</strong>ed slightly dur<strong>in</strong>g the mid 1980s and then subsequently <strong>in</strong>creased. Equally difficult to resolve are questions concern<strong>in</strong>g the relative consumption levels of cannabis and hero<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>. Did cannabis <strong>abuse</strong> actually fall lower, as reported, than hero<strong>in</strong> <strong>abuse</strong> or was this f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g due to estimation errors? The present data do not allow us to determ<strong>in</strong>e the truth of this matter, as either scenario would be consistent with the current f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs. Relevant, though, is that although the results presented here give no def<strong>in</strong>ite answer, they do raise the question as to what extent earlier estimates of hero<strong>in</strong> <strong>abuse</strong> might have been <strong>in</strong>flated. Address<strong>in</strong>g these issues cogently is greatly complicated by the time <strong>in</strong>tervals between the assessments exercises, a fact which serves to emphasise that the accurate identification of consumption trends over time relies on the development of a cont<strong>in</strong>uous surveillance mechanism. This issue is discussed <strong>in</strong> detail below. The key <strong>in</strong>formant data <strong>in</strong> the 2000 exercise strongly suggest that cannabis <strong>in</strong> one form or another (marijuana, charas, etc) is the most commonly used drug <strong>in</strong> the country <strong>in</strong> terms of lifetime use and prevalence over the last year. Whilst this study was not designed to give an estimate of the number of cannabis consumers <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>, it can be posited that this figure is likely to be considerable. Any estimate will depend specifically on the period prevalence measure used (lifetime, last year, last month etc). However, if period prevalence for either lifetime or last year is considered, the total numbers of <strong>in</strong>dividuals is likely to be higher than a million. For a po<strong>in</strong>t of reference, if the 1982 prevalence estimate is taken <strong>in</strong> conjunction with today's figures it would suggest there would be around 1.3 million current users. The general op<strong>in</strong>ion would be that consumption today is probably considerably higher than <strong>in</strong> 1982, so 59
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Supported by the UNDCP Global Asses
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR DRUG CONT
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Acknowledgements The National <stro
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Contents Acknowledgements . . . . .
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3. Respondents’ perceptions of th
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Executive summary The Pakis
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY About half of tho
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY on these groups c
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DRUG ABUSE IN PAKISTAN data are to
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DRUG ABUSE IN PAKISTAN at the time
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DRUG ABUSE IN PAKISTAN Act also all
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Drug abuse in Pakistan - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

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