JEDDAH: Col. Abdullah Al-Qahtani, acting director of the Drug Combating Department in Jeddah, said yesterday Saudi Arabia will continue its campaign against drug smugglers and traffickers.
“Saudi Arabia is a permanent partner of humanity in combating this poison,” Al-Qahtani said in a statement on the occasion of World Anti-Drugs Day today. “We’ll use all means to prevent illicit trade of drugs.”
Al-Qahtani said the Kingdom shares the feelings of the international community on the need to combat drugs. Saudi Arabia is one of the first signatories to the 1987 United Nations agreement to fight illicit drugs. “Drugs not only affect the individuals who abuse them but also the community in which they live,” he said.
Lt. Nasser Al-Zahrani, director of preventive affairs at the department, said his organization would conduct a series of programs during school holidays this summer to enlighten the public on the harmful and dangerous effects of drugs.
“We’ll make use of all media, including print and electronic media, to enlighten the public against drugs during the summer holidays,” Al-Zahrani said.
Drug peddlers are generally given stiff sentences and risk being put to death for repeated offenses. The Kingdom deals with drug abuse as a sickness and provides free rehab treatment to addicts at its Al-Amal hospitals.
Saudi Arabia applies capital punishment on drug traffickers on the basis of a ruling by the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars in 1986. The scholars defined drug trafficking as a socially corrupting offense for which capital punishment may be applied in accordance with Shariah.
