RAWALPINDI : Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that drug addiction has become a curse for society, adding that the government has vowed to safe Pakistani youth from the problem.

He was addressing an inauguration ceremony at the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) headquarters in Rawalpindi.

“Drugs are silent killers. Unfortunately, this problem has penetrated schools and colleges. We have to collectively fight this problem,” he said.

He said that whenever society embraces things which are forbidden in Islam, it is bound to be destructive.

“Whatever has been instructed in the Qu’ran is only for the benefit of humankind,” he said. “Back in the 1980s, many people earned money by selling drugs but society accepted them. This was the biggest setback for our country.”

Citing statistics, PM Imran Khan said that more than 70 million young people in Pakistan have fallen prey to drug addiction, which is a dangerously high number.

He recalled the recent incident in Kasur where a man, said to be a drug addict, threw his five children into the Jamber canal.

“Whenever a person becomes a drug addict, their entire family suffers. If there are 70 million drug addicts in the country, it means that 70 million families are struggling,” he said.