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UAE sees significant drop in new drug addicts, says Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan

Number of new drug users dropped by 24 per cent from 2016 to 2020 and over 10 per cent in 2021.

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The UAE has been successfully dealing with drug trafficking as the number of new cases of drug addicts are on the decline over the past few years, said a senior official on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chief of Police and Public Security in Dubai and Chairman of Anti-narcotics Council, said the number of new drug users dropped by 24 per cent from 2016 to 2020 and over 10 per cent in 2021.

He added that the number of drug traffickers apprehended increased by 25 per cent and this is testimony that the law enforcement agencies’ active joint works are essential to achieve success and objectives.

While giving a presentation at the World Police Summit at Expo 2020 Dubai on Wednesday on the topic of “The roadmap to building a drug-free society”, he said the number of mortalities of drug overdose has dropped to over 49 per cent between 2016 and 2020.

The four-day World Police Summit has seen the participation of thousands of delegates from around the world. Senior police and other law enforcement officials from the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East attended the summit at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Lt. Gen. Tamim said the UAE’s Anti-narcotics Council contributed to pinpointing some legal loopholes that require amendments to keep pace with recent developments in combating drug promotion through social media and other forms of digital communications.

He further elaborated that they are working to raise awareness about the use of drugs in schools and also at the teachers' level. “We have also published a guide for parents on anti-narcotics. We have held many works shops with parents about it,” he said.

He further added that 49 per cent of car thieves are drug addicts while 64 per cent of suspects who committed assault and robbery are also drug consumers. While over 18 per cent of reckless driving cases and driving without licence cases involve drug addiction.

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He also stated that some patients may go to many pharmacies so there is a need for a system to control quantities of medicine that can be dispensed to each patient so that authorities are sure that this medication is used for treatment only and not for abuse. “We have created a database of drugs so that we can know from where in the world this drug is coming from,” he added.

-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

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