The KP government has decided to make a law to curb the use of crystal meth
Drug use is increasing by the day in Peshawar
Drug use is increasing by the day in Peshawar
Photo: AFP
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is taking steps to curb the use of crystal meth.
The government is working on amending the Drug Control Act 1997. The new law will sentence drug peddlers to seven years in prison and impose a Rs0.5 million fine.
Information State Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said the usage of ‘ice’ is increasing by the day in Peshawar. Estimates suggest that 10,000 people have been using the drug, including students.
Related: Peshawar’s students are using crystal meth to pass
Yousafzai remarked that the bill will be presented in the assembly soon.
Ice, as it is called on the street, is crystal meth of methamphetamines in the form of crystals. Methamphetamines are a stimulant drug that comes as a white, bitter powder or pill. Crystal meth looks like glass. It is also called speed.
Ice can be swallowed, snorted, smoked or injected. It is most commonly smoked in a glass ice pipe or injected.
Dr Khalid Mufti, a psychiatrist in Peshawar, told SAMAA Digital that ice doubles your energy levels and you can keep awake on it for 24 to 48 hours. But you crash afterward and it wrecks your system.
Related: 50% drug users in Peshawar relapse
Ice addicts are prone to rage and self-harm and they can turn violent on others. They also tend to mix it up with other illegal drugs.
“When this surfaced in Peshawar about two to two and a half years earlier, it was just with elite kids because it was expensive,” he says. “It used to be Rs8,000 or Rs9,000 a gram.”
