Socio-Economic Profile of Drug Abusers Attending a Treatment Center in Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

Addiction is an inveterate, often reverting brain disease which causes compulsive
drug use, in addition to harmful effects to the individual as well to those around the
addicted one. Geographic location of Pakistan’s adjacent to Afghanistan, which is
largest producer of opium in the world making the country vulnerable to drug
trafficking as well as drug abuse. In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the
socio-economic conditions of drug abusers in Peshawar. A total of 61 respondents
were studied for the study. The study revealed that cannabis (Chars) and heroin is
the most preferred drug which was used by 39 percent of respondents. The
analysis revealed that drug abuse was common in both educated and uneducated
respondents. It is important to note that eighty percent of the respondents were
not aware of the negative consequences of the drug before its initial use.