Thieving for addiction

Karachi's drug problem is becoming impossible to ignore. Men and women struggling with addiction are increasingly visible in open spaces, while some have turned to stealing equipment and metal from public infrastructure to finance their addiction. What should be a public health and law-enforcement concern has consequently become an everyday threat to citizens and to a city already struggling to maintain its most basic infrastructure. The damage is not limited to the value of what is stolen. A missing manhole cover can kill or injure a pedestrian. Stolen cables can plunge a street into darkness. Damaged railings can turn a pedestrian bridge into a hazard. The theft of steel from bridges and other structures is an especially alarming development because it compromises infrastructure that thousands of people depend on. Karachi cannot afford to treat these incidents as petty theft. But neither can the authorities pretend that arresting addicts will resolve the problem. An addict stealing metal from a roadside is at the visible end of a much larger chain. There is someone supplying the drugs, someone transporting them, someone selling them and, in some cases, someone willing to buy stolen material without asking where it came from. Focusing exclusively on the person at the bottom of this chain allows those who profit from addiction to continue operating. The police response also cannot remain dependent on sporadic raids. If officers are instructed to register cases against addicts caught stealing, that must be accompanied by a functioning system through which those suffering from addiction can receive treatment. Leaving a person on the street after a brief detention virtually guarantees that the cycle will begin again. Sindh needs a serious rehabilitation policy rather than a collection of disconnected facilities and occasional campaigns. For people who have nowhere to return to, rehabilitation must also provide a route towards housing and employment.