JEDDAH — A charity has opened up a discreet center for the treatment of drug addicts, Makkah reported on Wednesday. Aziz Al-Otaibi, who works for Kafa (Enough), a welfare organization taking care of addicts, said the organization has established a center to provide rehabilitation and treatment to Saudi men and women who are addicted to narcotics in a secluded setting. He said so far about 200 drug addicts in Jeddah alone have benefited from the center's programs. Otaibi said a number of specialists and retired medical doctors from the Al-Amal (Hope) government rehabilitation hospitals have volunteered to work in the center. He said: “We have noticed that a large number of young addicts do not prefer to go to Al-Amal hospitals for fear of being recognized. “They are also scared of the long formal procedures of the hospitals.” Otaibi said the organization had thought of setting up its own discreet center to provide addicts with the required rehabilitation away from the public eye. He explained the center has no facilities for in-patient care but will receive the patients, give them the required medicines and closely follow up their rehabilitation. He said the addicts would have to communicate with the center electronically, after which they will be admitted, examined and given the necessary medicines and guidance. Otaibi said as it has no facilities for in-patient care, the center depends largely on the initiative of the addict to be rehabilitated. He recalled that a woman contacted the center about her husband who was an addict but did not want to go to Al-Amal Hospital because he feared his situation would become public knowledge. He said the wife took her husband to the center. “After some visits to the center, the husband has improved and is now drug free,” he said.
