What if Prevention is Already Happening but We Do Not Notice it?

By: Syeda Rida Fatima
Youth Ambassador, ANF RD North.

Imagine waking up one morning to find that all intelligence networks, border operations, interdiction teams, anti-drug checkpoints, and anti-trafficking forces had disappeared overnight. Would the use of drugs increase? It would, of course.

As a nation, we are so preoccupied with the issue of rising drug-abuse that we are overlooking the fact that we have partially succeeded in achieving the goal of prevention already.

If eliminating these preventive mechanisms will lead to an increase in drug abuse, then aren’t these preventive mechanisms already preventing it on a daily basis? We often neglect this prevention that is already happening.

If the situation would deteriorate in the absence of ANF, then ANF is currently preventing that deterioration on a daily basis. Consequently, there is prevention. We just don’t see it because of being so much focused on the issue of rising cases.

We measure the number of people who develop drug-addiction each year, but do we also track the number of people who never develop the addiction? At that moment, ANF’s influence becomes imperceptible.

More than a ton of drugs never reached homes, workplaces, schools, institutions, and communities because of the preventive measures taken by ANF. The fact that effective drug prevention is frequently undetectable is one of the biggest obstacles in this field.

We are aware of those who develop an addiction, but we seldom ever acknowledge the innumerable people who are shielded from drugs by ANF’s preventive initiatives.

We generally think of statistics as figures on paper, but behind each number is a story of harm prevented.

Before a person can take drugs, they have to be produced, smuggled, transported, distributed and made available. ANF is always working to derail every step in this process.

ANF goes after the supply chain before opioids reach the public. The Force stops harm before it begins. This preventive strategy is evident in ANF’s wider mandate.

The Force also monitors and controls the national drug supply reduction programs, prevents the trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals which enhance law enforcement co-ordination and takes part in national and international counter-narcotics operations.

These are not simply operational functions; they are protective layers that separate communities from the threat.

ANF’s activities in the field of Drug Demand Reduction are equally significant. ANF engages in community engagement projects, education efforts, and awareness campaigns in educational institutions, even though supply disruption is still crucial.

ANF’s major initiative of delivering awareness lectures in schools, colleges, and universities take the prevention to another level. Every student in an educational institute who learns about the risks associated with drugs may become one less addict in the future.

Every awareness-raising event gives people the power to make wise decisions. Every action and campaign that ANF undertakes fortifies society’s defenses against the drug problem.

The most amazing thing about prevention is that there is no outward sign of its effectiveness. It is always invisible but effects greatly.

For instance, when a firefighter puts out a fire, the structure that was saved is still visible. In a similar vein, when a doctor saves a patient, the survivor serves as proof of their accomplishment.

Similarly, drug prevention by the Force goes unnoticed, but the lives living drug-free are appreciated for staying away from drugs.

Due to the dismantling of a trafficking network, we do not see the family that was never affected by addiction. We don’t witness the overdose that never happened or the crime that never happened.

The absence of these tragedies serves as a covert indicator of effective prevention that is already happening. Maybe this is why one of the most underestimated successes in the war on drugs is prevention.

It is common to quantify the harm that happened while ignoring the harm that never happened.

It is worthwhile to consider an alternative world as we commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Many people who never developed an addiction because drugs never reached them should be taken into consideration when evaluating the effectiveness of anti-drug campaigns, rather than just counting the number of addicts.

Between traffickers and potential victims, the Anti-Narcotics Force acts as an imperceptible barrier.

A safer future is a result of every operation carried out, every trafficking route blocked, every precursor chemical regulated, every awareness session given, and every kilogram of drugs confiscated.

ANF’s greatest accomplishment may not have been the drugs it confiscated, but rather the addictions it stopped before it started.

History frequently recalls the crises that took place. For the disasters that never happened, prevention deserves praise.