Okaz The slogans "no to drugs" and "a nation without drugs" are an indication of a very dangerous problem that has lured a large number of our youth, turning them into destroyed skeletons. All the methods we have used and continue to use to fight this evil menace are primitive and basic. We have intensified our efforts to target those selling drugs, but they are still able to distribute large quantities that can only be made accessible by organized international gangs that have people working inside the country. We are used to hearing that drug dealers have been sentenced to death, but we rarely hear that the head of one of these local gangs that organize drug operations has been arrested. They are the root of the evil, and if we targeted them, then all the other smaller players would be afraid, knowing that they would be next. There have recently been two positive announcements about the fight against drugs. In the first, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior said that there was a decrease in drug smuggling crimes last year. This was due to the public's increased awareness of the danger of drugs, the alertness of our police forces, the implementation of legal rulings, as well as the increased security at the nation's borders. Yet despite this decrease, the amount of drugs that was confiscated was enough to supply two million drug addicts. The amount of drugs smuggled into the country was clearly much larger than what was confiscated, which is well-known to be the case in countries around the world. Perhaps strict security at the borders was the main reason for the decrease of smuggling operations. The other announcement was about the launching of a new national media campaign for drug prevention called "Nibras" that relies on a scientific approach to the problem unlike previous efforts that have yielded few results. The project includes eight important programs: a family and children's program, environmental educational program, media and new media program, Nibras stars program, international information network, consultancy center, research program and the Saudi observatory program. The project, sponsored by the General Directorate for Drug Control and the National Committee for Drug Control, needs everyone's support so that it can succeed. It also needs a lot of advocacy work to spread news about it in every city, village, and region of the Kingdom. We have reached a scary stage when drugs are being promoted among young men and women and even children. And for those who think that this is an exaggeration, I advise them to visit one of the Al-Amal rehabilitation hospitals that receive only a small fraction of the actual number of drug victims.
