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

DRUG ABUSE IN PAKISTAN
this figure is itself likely to be an underestimate.
Both the scale of cannabis use and its relationship
to health and other problems merit further research
attention <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>.
Of particular concern is the use of illicit drugs by
young people. Sixty-five per cent of key <strong>in</strong>formants
identified hashish and charas as drugs used by
young people. This f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g is consistent with the
1993 study and moreover is concordant with <strong>in</strong>ternational
patterns of cannabis use, where prevalence
levels are usually found to be higher among the
young. Future studies may productively explore attitudes
to, and patterns of use of, cannabis and other
substances among young people. School surveys
have extensively been used for this purpose elsewhere.
Whether a school survey of drug use <strong>in</strong>
<strong>Pakistan</strong> is feasible and what resources would be
required are appropriate questions to address <strong>in</strong>
future discussions about develop<strong>in</strong>g a permanent
drug <strong>in</strong>formation system for <strong>Pakistan</strong>.
The early studies suggested that hero<strong>in</strong> use was
“common <strong>in</strong> the younger population 16-30 years”
(1993 study). In the 2000 study, fewer young respondents
were <strong>in</strong>terviewed, even though the mean age
of respondents <strong>in</strong> both samples were very similar
(see table 30). In the 1993 exercise, 24% of hero<strong>in</strong>
users <strong>in</strong>terviewed were between 15 and 20 years old.
In the 2000 study this figure fell to 5%. This suggests
that the age distribution of the earlier sample was
more evenly spread but, given that the sampl<strong>in</strong>g
strategy used <strong>in</strong> the studies is not identical, caution
should be used <strong>in</strong> draw<strong>in</strong>g conclusions from this
with respect to the overall makeup of the hero<strong>in</strong>
abus<strong>in</strong>g population <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>. More <strong>in</strong>formatively,
the mean age of first hero<strong>in</strong> use has fallen from 26
to 22 years; and as the mean age of subjects <strong>in</strong>terviewed
has rema<strong>in</strong>ed constant, the 2000 sample
therefore represents more long-term <strong>abuse</strong>rs of
hero<strong>in</strong>.
In any respect the data suggest that street, treatment
and prison populations of hero<strong>in</strong> <strong>abuse</strong>rs are
characterized by a substantial proportion of longterm
users whose needs are therefore likely to be
both considerable and varied. Successfully <strong>in</strong>terven<strong>in</strong>g
with such a group is likely to require services
that can provide a broad range of <strong>in</strong>terventions and
which can provide <strong>in</strong>tensive and long-term support
to those that require it.
Table 30.
Comparisons of hero<strong>in</strong> <strong>abuse</strong>rs
<strong>in</strong> the 1993 and 2000 studies
The f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs of the 2000 study also broadly supported
the f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs of the 1993 survey <strong>in</strong> respect to
the prov<strong>in</strong>cial breakdown, with North West Frontier
Prov<strong>in</strong>ce be<strong>in</strong>g identified as the prov<strong>in</strong>ce with the
lowest prevalence of hero<strong>in</strong> use. Opium <strong>abuse</strong> was
reported to be at low levels and <strong>in</strong> decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> both
studies and poly-drug <strong>abuse</strong> was common among
drug <strong>abuse</strong>rs <strong>in</strong> both research exercises.
<strong>Drug</strong> use by women
1993 2000
Mean age at <strong>in</strong>terview 32 33
Age first use hero<strong>in</strong> 26 22
Percentage of sample
age 15-20 years of age 24 5
Percentage female 4 1
Sample size 506 1 049
None of the assessment exercises conducted <strong>in</strong>
<strong>Pakistan</strong> has been able to explore drug use among
women <strong>in</strong> any detail. The 2000 assessment exercise
does <strong>in</strong>dicate that whilst drug <strong>abuse</strong> by women is
not, for most drug types, likely to be found at the
same levels as among the male population, it clearly
exists. In the key <strong>in</strong>formant data, a small but significant
number of respondents reported hero<strong>in</strong>
<strong>abuse</strong> among women <strong>in</strong> their locales. The estimation
of psychotropic use was even higher. If women
are abus<strong>in</strong>g drugs <strong>in</strong> <strong>Pakistan</strong>, they are not access<strong>in</strong>g
treatment <strong>in</strong> any great numbers. The treatment
audit suggested that only 3% of current patients
were women.
Two th<strong>in</strong>gs are then clear from the current study.
First, more <strong>in</strong>formation on drug use by women <strong>in</strong>
<strong>Pakistan</strong> is required to allow a better understand<strong>in</strong>g
of the extent of problems among women and to
gauge their related needs. Such studies will be
methodologically challeng<strong>in</strong>g and require sensitivity
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