DAMMAM: A total of 2000 addicts in the Kingdom were taken forcibly during the period starting on February 2015 and ending on February 2016, to the therapeutic centers across the country, said Abdullah Al-Sharif, secretary general of the National Commission for Drug Control (NCDC).

Al-Sharif said that the National Center of Drug Addiction Consultations has received about 17,000 calls through its toll number (1955) during the same period, from relatives of drug male addicts, while there were no calls about female addicts.

He said that the forcible transfer of addicts comes after reaching an advanced stage of addiction, causing harm to themselves or their surrounding persons, explaining that forcible transfer of addicts is one of the most important stages implemented with full coordination with the parents or relatives, through police officers wearing civilian clothes.

Regarding the number of consultations, Riyadh region was ranked first with about 7034 calls, followed by Makkah with 3099 calls, while the remainder is distributed to the various regions of the Kingdom, said the anti-drugs body’s official, confirming that many consultations related to increase the awareness of families of the preventive and guidance programs.

He said: “The center receives about 75 calls a day from eight a.m. until ten p.m. from Sunday to Thursday, and there are 15 consultants and specialists working for the center, along with 5 female consultants.”

The official said that the center’s mission is to provide advice and guidance based on professional foundations to protect members of the society from the addictive disorders impacts and their related problems.

Al-Sharif said the center works in partnership with Dr. Nasser Al-Rashid Research Program on Drug Prevention, and is subject to the administrative and professional supervision of the NCDC’s general secretariat, in addition to the role of Al-Amal Hospitals to work according to the needed requirements and the standards in force in such centers worldwide.