RIYADH, 20 December 2004 — In a major move to curb the growing menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse, Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council has formulated and approved new draft rules and regulations. The new rules aimed at curbing drug abuse and trafficking in the country within the framework of the Islamic Shariah laws were approved at a full-fledged Shoura session presided over by Dr. Saleh ibn Humaid, chairman of the Shoura Council here yesterday.
“The draft regulations to curb drug trafficking and abuse will be submitted to the Saudi Cabinet for final endorsement before they are enacted as laws”, said Dr. Hamoud ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Badr, Shoura’s secretary-general. The move to introduce new legislation is intended to provide more strength to the network of government agencies and the judicial system to fight this social evil in Saudi Arabia, which is increasingly becoming a favorable destination for drug peddlers.
Dr. Al-Badr said “the Shoura Security Affairs Committee has discussed and debated various aspects of this social evil before preparing the final draft of new rules and regulations”. He pointed out that the new regulations reaffirm the Kingdom’s resolve to combat drug trafficking. He did not disclose the details of the regulations, but said that the new rules and regulations have several clauses on how to curb this menace on the local and regional level.
The Saudi network currently in place to curb the menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse, has been widely applauded. Recently, the Kingdom’s punitive action won praise from the United Nations office for drug control also.
In fact Saudi Arabia is a country with the lowest level of drug consumption. Riyadh, however, has stepped up efforts fruther to check the menace of drugs. The death penalty imposed by the Kingdom on traffickers has largely discouraged them, said Lt. Col. Razzaq Al-Zahrani of the Anti-Narcotics Commission in a report published recently.
Of late, the Kingdom has intensified its efforts to combat drug trafficking and misuse of drugs. It has already set up four hospitals for treating drug addicts.
