New Delhi: Calling upon the Government to relax the ban on alcohol in Pakistan, a Parliamentarian in the country said an increasing number of youngsters were getting addicted to drugs in the absence of free availability of alcoholic drinks.
Treasury member Ali Akbar Wains said at National Assembly on Thursday that by banning the "minor evil" of alcohol, the government had given the "major evil" of drugs to flourish in the country.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi seconded Wains’ suggestion, reported Daily Times.
"In my personal opinion, the government should relax the ban on liquor to arrest the rising trend of the use of drugs like heroin, morphine and hashish among the youth of the country. Most drug addicts are between the ages of 20 and 30 years," the newspaper quoted Wains as saying.
However, members, who reminded that Islam prohibited the production, trade and consumption of alcohol, promptly opposed it. Critics also wondered if there was any 'lobby' promoting liquor in Parliament.
The debate started during question hour when Parliamentary secretary for narcotics control, Gulzar Sabtain, informed the Lower House that there were over four million drug addicts in Pakistan.
"Out of these four million, 500,000 are chronic heroin addicts including 60,000 intravenous drug users. The rest use drugs other than heroin," Sabtain said.
Alcohol has been banned in Pakistan since its birth in 1947. The government controls whatever is produced or distributed. The only private distillery in Pakistan is owned and run by a lawmaker, M P Bhandara, who is not a Muslim, but a Parsi.
(With Agency inputs)
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