“I have been consuming hashish for the last two years. I had caught the habit from my elder cousin. I am suffering from memory loss and fatigue,” Jamil Khan, a red-eyed young student, narrated his ordeal in between his strokes of hashish-laden cigarette.

He said that he was a good cricket player of his college but then he was unable to walk briskly on the track. He added that hashish addiction was on the top among other drugs consumption mostly by teenagers.

“We gather every day in this small park and enjoy smoking hashish, sometime also other drugs. Around 15 to 20 young students walk up to small triangular parks and blind-corners of Hayatabad while some young boys also cross over to Shakas makeshift kiosks and shops where they buy and enjoy smoking hashish,” said the student.

He said that most young drug addicts were also involved in the street crimes and drug peddling in the city. He said that hashish smokers crossed over to Shakas at evening time and enjoyed full hashish smoke session at cabins and kiosks and also bought enough hashish for night home consumption.

“The hashish addicts, 50 per cent being Afghan youth, belong to the so-called educated and well-off families. I am an O Level student myself. Police don’t bother us. Even if we get caught, Rs200 to Rs400 can help us free. We use eye drops to remove redness in the eyes so that our parents might not suspect us for being hashish users,” said Mr Khan.

Roman Sajid, another 10th grade student, said that young hashish addicts swarmed parks and blind spots on weekends and in the evening. “Hashish is so common and viral that it is no more considered a drug. Da Kho Da Malangai Nasha Da [It is rather drug of mendicants.] Everybody is taking it as fun. Even young girls consume hashish to smoke away their boredom,” he argued.

Mr Sajid said that drug addicts, especially hashish smokers, converged at shrines and private hostels to enjoy consuming varieties of drugs. Police, he said, never showed up there nor wardens took care.

According to police and media reports, groups of teenagers are involved in various street crimes and drug addiction among the youth is on the rise in and around the provincial metropolis.

During a chat with a senior police officer in Peshawar, it was revealed that several small groups of teenage bandits were operating in the city and also in Mardan, Nowshera and Charsadda districts.

The officer, requesting anonymity, admitted that drug addiction including hashish among youth was also rising with each passing day. “The teenage gangs of 14 to 17 age groups mostly from middle class families are active in different parts of the city. They are involved in street crimes including mobile phones snatching, swindling, pick pocketing and even robberies. They become active at noon and evening times,” said the officer.

Hassan Ali, a local reporter, who is familiar with such teenage gangs, said that a teenage could not be convicted under juvenile justice system ordinance. The main reasons, he found behind drug addiction and involvement of youth in criminal activities, were parental negligence, lack of healthy activities, poverty, unemployment, depression, easy access to drugs and legal hindrance.

“About 90 per cent hashish addicts are living in private hostels of schools, colleges and universities around the city. Recently, Peshawar police arrested a teenage gang involved in mobile snatching incident but did away with the group because of legal obstacle,” said Mr Ali.

Rashid Jan, who ran a cabin at Shalman Park in Hayatabad, said that drug peddlers went scot-free in connivance with police officials. He said that drugs of various kinds were being smuggled into the city from Karkhano Market and Shakas.

He said that Shakas was the extreme eastern end point of tehsil Jamrud, Khyber Agency, bordering the posh Hayatabad town. He said that there were nocturnal hashish smoking sessions in rooms and sometimes at the lawns of the university hostels. He said that burnt scorpions and dried ants were also grounded and mixed in hashish to heighten its intoxication.

Mr Jan said that there were selling points at the parks and blind corners in the city while mobile suppliers were operating to ensure home delivery and also to the private hostels on Ring Road, Warsak Road and University Road.

However, an official at University of Peshawar told this scribe that proper checking of rooms was being carried out on the campus.

Dr Murad Ali at Lady Reading Hospital said that government should set up more rehabilitation centres for drug addicts. Only medical treatment was not sufficient, he added.

“Guidance, counselling and providing a conducive environment to young people will pay more than just a medical cure. Parents, teachers and elders should be included in awareness sessions,” said Dr Murad.

He said that consuming hashish affected brain, caused insomnia, violent behaviour, and the addicts lost weight due to losing appetite.

He said that an addict consumed six to eight hashish-laden cigarettes per day.

A senior police official said that drug addiction, crimes and terrorism were closely linked. He said that he was posted in Charsadda a few months ago where he had arrested a group of car-lifters, who were also involved in murder of taxi drivers. “The gang comprised four young brothers, who used to hire cabs from other districts and shoot the drivers dead, dumping their dead bodies in a graveyards or fields. Young addicts are prone to terrorist activities as well,” he added.

Another official posted at Hayatabad police station said that police kept a vigilant eye on the movement of people including youngsters. “Around 14 FC pickets have been set up along the area bordering the tribal agency. Also we regularly patrol public parks in Hayatabad and detain whosever is found involved in illegal activity,” said the official.

He stressed the need for parental care and urged government to review juvenile justice system ordinance to save future of the young generation.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2016