On 22 January 2026 the Young Parliamentarians Forum of the National Assembly convened a detailed briefing at Parliament House, Islamabad, with the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control to assess youth-centric measures against drug abuse and trafficking. The session, chaired by Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, MNA, brought together a wide cross-section of lawmakers, including members of the Women Parliamentary Caucus, underscoring parliamentary concern over the growing impact of narcotics on young Pakistanis.
Brigadier Syed Imran Ali, Director Enforcement, delivered the Ministry’s briefing on preventive, rehabilitative and enforcement strategies on behalf of the Secretary. He outlined awareness campaigns, community interventions, treatment and rehabilitation mechanisms and actions targeting organised trafficking networks. Senior officials present such as Lt. Col. Taimur Niazi, Mr. Shahzad Durrani and Mr. Muhammad Tariq highlighted emerging challenges, including the rise of synthetic drugs, poly‑drug use, cross‑border trafficking and the misuse of digital platforms for narcotics-related activity.
Members raised pressing concerns about the availability and geographic coverage of rehabilitation facilities, the need for robust post‑rehabilitation reintegration support and stronger inter‑agency coordination under the post‑18th Amendment framework. Representatives of the Women Parliamentary Caucus stressed the indirect but deep impact of drug abuse on women, children and families and called for gender‑sensitive and youth‑responsive policies to complement enforcement efforts.
President YPF Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar reaffirmed the forum’s commitment to support national anti‑narcotics work through legislation, parliamentary oversight, budgetary scrutiny and constituency‑level advocacy. The forum and the Ministry agreed to maintain regular briefings and coordinated action to strengthen prevention, treatment and law enforcement responses focused on young people.
The briefing was attended by the Minister of State for Law & Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik, Secretary of the Women Parliamentary Caucus Syeda Shahida Rehmani and a wide group of MNAs including Ahmed Atteeq Anwar, Ammar Ahmad Khan Leghari, Kiran Imran Dar, Shamaila Rana and others who signalled support for sustained parliamentary‑executive engagement to address drug abuse among Pakistan’s youth.
The Young Parliamentarians Forum left the session with a renewed focus on coordinated prevention, expanded rehabilitation access and strengthened oversight to ensure policy measures translate into tangible protection for young Pakistanis vulnerable to narcotics harms.
