Sharing a border with Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of illicit opium, has made Pakistan vulnerable to drug trafficking and processing. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that Pakistan is the destination and transit country for approximately 40 percent of the opiates produced in Afghanistan, worth around $27 to $30 billion, out of which $1.5 billion worth is retained in Pakistan. The ramifications of drug trafficking and processing in Pakistan are serious. Despite the fact that Pakistan was declared as a poppy-free state in 2011, drug abuse and addiction problems have been exacerbated along Pakistan's trafficking routes, as well as an imminent risk of a widespread HIV epidemic. According to UNODC's 2012 World Drug Report, every year $68 billion is generated from illicit drugs globally, and is mainly used in terrorist activities, human trafficking and the smuggling of arms. Evidence shows that this money is also a source for terrorist groups operating in Pakistan, making counter-narcotics not only a social issue but also a security issue for the Government. President Zardari has stressed the importance of this issue at various forums, both regional and global. During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2012, the President mentioned that unrestricted production and sale of illicit drugs was funding terrorist activities in the region and the rest of the world and also announced that the country was pursuing an ambitious agenda to control the menace.

The Anti-Narcotics Policy 2010 - This policy has been developed by the Ministry of Narcotics Control to address Pakistan's prevailing situation and changes in the global narcotics environment. In order to reduce the health, social and economic costs associated with drug trafficking and substance abuse in Pakistan, the Drug Control Master Plan 2010-2014 has been developed in accordance with international best practices.
Regional Ministerial Conference 2012 -In November 2012, President Zardari hosted a Regional Ministerial Conference on Counter Narcotics which was attended by the delegations of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan which aimed to enhance regional cooperation, leading towards an integrated, coordinated and a balanced strategy to control illicit drugs and psychotropic substances and enhance capacities of the regional states. During the event it was agreed that narcotics pose a serious threat, which transcends national boundaries and that the international community has a "shared responsibility" in working together to combat the criminal activity that fuels terrorist activity and violence around the world. At the conclusion of the Summit, a Joint Declaration was adopted by the regional ministers which recommended establishing a hotline among the concerned anti-narcotics agencies as well as a Regional Contact Group that will develop a comprehensive and sustainable mechanism to counter the national and regional threats posed by narcotics.
International Cooperation- The Government is actively cooperating with the international community on counter-narcotics. Pakistan is a signatory to all United Nations drug control conventions as well as the SAARC Convention on Drug Control. The Government is working closely with the United Nations and other international partners to strive towards a drug-free Pakistan. The Government has signed bilateral agreements through Memorandums of Understanding with several countries to make joint effort for the control of drug trafficking, other than regularly participating in regional meetings with Iran and Afghanistan on the subject. Visit the Shared Responsibility section for up-to-date information.
ISLAMABAD:At the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2012, Pakistan may be free of poppy cultivation, but the country still provides a vital transit route for smuggling of drugs worth $30 billion from neighbouring Afghanistan. Speaking at the launch of the World Drug Report 2012 on Tuesday, officials from the United Nations welcomed the decline in poppy cultivation in Pakistan. In the same breath, however, they added that the country is a major route for the smuggling of drugs cultivated in Afghanistan, primarily through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and that drug cultivation can resurface in these areas if the Anti-Narcotics Force is not strict in its surveillance. One-third of drugs produced in Afghanistan are smuggled to other countries via the coastal areas of Balochistan, the UN officials added. Global NumbersThe UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the annual report about the state of drug cultivation, production, usage and transport in New York on Tuesday. According to the report, at least 5% of the world's adult population, or about 230 million people, are estimated to have used an illicit drug at least once in 2010. Some $68 billion is generated globally from illicit drugs annually, and is mainly used in terrorist activities, human trafficking and the smuggling of arms. According to the UNODC, $27 to $30 billion worth of drugs are smuggled from Afghanistan, via Pakistan, to other parts of the world annually; of this, drugs worth $1.5 billion stay in Pakistan. Drug abuse and illicit trafficking continue to have a profoundly negative impact on development and stability across the world, the report says. Heroin, cocaine and other drugs continue to kill around 200,000 people a year, bringing misery to thousands of other peoples, insecurity and the spread of HIV, the report adds.
Drug CultivationGlobal opium production amounted at 7,000 tonnes in 2011, up from the low levels of 2010 when diseases wiped out almost half of the crop yield. Afghanistan maintained its position as the largest producer and the country's opium production increased by 61%, from 3,600 toms in 2010 to 5,800 tonnes in 2011. High prices and increase in demand are making opium production more attractive to farmers in South East Asia, the report says. Poppy cultivation in South East Asia jumped 16% – from 41,000 hectares in 2010 to almost 48,000 hectares in 2011. Overall cultivation of opium doubled in South East Asia.
ExternalitiesIllicit drugs and related criminal networks undermine the rule of law, the report says. Central America, for instance, faces rising levels of violence fuelled by transnational organised crime and drug trafficking. The region is now home to the highest homicide rates in the world. Meanwhile, development in Afghanistan is being hindered by the highest rates of opiate prevalence in the world. In parts of Myanmar, farmers are trapped by food insecurity compelling them to grow poppies as a cash crop. The challenge is also greatly testing West and Central Africa, which lies along one of the main drug trafficking routes to Europe. Moreover, transit countries are no longer simply links in the chain of supply. About half of the cocaine trafficked through West and Central Africa now remains in the region.
SolutionsThe drug, crime and corruption conventions of the UN form a solid basis for global solutions to these challenges, the report states, adding that these instruments offer a balanced approach to halt trafficking, promote viable alternatives to the farmers of cash crops, and offer drug users their health and human rights.