The menace of drugs

Saudi security agencies have recently foiled attempts to smuggle various types of drugs worth SR1.9 billion and arrested 1,197 drug smugglers and traffickers. This is a big achievement for the Kingdom when we consider the destructive effect of drugs on our society.

Drug barons are targeting Saudi market in their bid to make money. Studies have proved that the number of drug users among the student community is increasing year after year.

Studies have shown the strong links between terrorism and drug smuggling as some terrorist groups use it as a source of income for their operations. US authorities have accused Hezbollah of involving in drug trafficking and money laundering. A number of Hezbollah members have been arrested for this reason and their assets have been frozen. The Lebanese Canadian Bank went out of business after it was accused of drug money laundering. The huge amounts of drugs seized from smugglers show the big demand for drugs in the Kingdom. The state alone will not be able to confront the danger of drugs. A concerted effort by the family, the society, mosques and the media is required to eradicate this menace.

By Fadhel Saad Al-Buainain

Fight against terrorism

Finally, the United States has been convinced of Saudi Arabia’s viewpoint on the need to fight terrorism by adopting a comprehensive strategy, without making it a time-bound or selective battle. Washington has taken steps for a long war against terrorism, in order to give a strong and fierce response to terrorist organizations in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Libya.

The US-led campaign should also tackle the root causes of terrorism in order to have a lasting impact. Any delay in carrying out the war would make the terrorists bold. Had Washington taken this step two years ago, the so-called Islamic State terrorists would not have spread in Iraq and Syria.

If the international community stands hesitant for two more years, it would lead to an unfathomable tragedy with its impacts reaching Europe and America.

Western countries have been following a strange criterion to declare an organization terrorist. They don’t feel any problem with Hezbollah that compete with the Lebanese army in acquiring arms. The Huthis in Yemen also do the same and try to grab power to establish a terrorist state in Sanaa, but the world would not consider them terrorists.

There are extremists and terrorists among both Sunnis and Shiites and the new anti-terror coalition would not succeed if they did not understand this fact. As a result they should confront not only IS militants but also Hezbollah forces and Huthis.

By Salman Al-Dossary

Investment in health

Spending on human health is an important investment in any society because healthy people are the source of achievements and creativity. Efforts must be strengthened to protect human health but the cost of treating diseases is increasing day by day. So people must be educated how to protect their health and this is the current trend all over the world.

Companies have achieved good results after introducing the new health system as it reduced the number of absentees by 27 percent and expenditures on treatment by 26 percent. It has been found that every dollar spent on the project would give a return of $5.8.

According to one study, the program to encourage people to quit smoking will be able to save 14 to 20 times of its cost by reducing expenditures on treating the diseases caused by smoking. The US state of California spent $2.4 billion to fight smoking between 1989 and 2008, which resulted in reducing spending on treatment by $34 billion.

Many developed countries have carried out effective steps to reduce smoking from 45 to 20 percent during the past 20 years. According to a report issued by the Disease Control Center in the US, their anti-smoking programs were able to cut down the number of smokers from 40 percent to 20 percent among men and 14.5 percent among women.

In Australia, whose population is less than Saudi Arabia, every dollar invested to fight smoking was able to save $70 in terms of reducing expenditures on treatment of various smoking-related illness.

By Walid Fitaihi

Low-cost Haj

I still remember my first Haj because it had spiritually elated me. The journey was very simple and I had not spent a huge amount for the journey. In those days, many Makkan businessmen used to distribute food among the Hajis free of charge.

Now things have changed. There are people who come from Europe and Far East and will not stay more than five days in the holy places for Haj. Real estate companies have constructed huge buildings in Makkah and nearby places to make huge profits. As a result the prices have gone up. Some people spend more than SR50,000 for the journey. Recently, the Haj Ministry has launched a low-cost Haj service program enabling people to perform Haj at a cost of SR2,500 to SR5,000. When I logged on the ministry’s website to avail the service, I came to know that all seats have been sold out. Now you have to pay SR15,000 to get a seat in a Haj group. This shows Haj has become a big business.

By Ali Aljahli

Treat people with respect

I have a friend who studied with me in the secondary school and we continued our higher education in the same college. He has been very good in his dealings with me. One day, a colleague asked me why did I establish friendship with him as he was following a different school of thought or madhab.

I asked that colleague where is the problem if my friend follows a different madhab as long as he believes in the same religion and bears witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad, peace be upon him, is His prophet. Then he explains to me the danger posed by the man’s madhab and I decided to severe my relations with that friend.

The next day the friend came to me while attending a lecture and asked why I was keeping away from him. He then explained to me what is wrong if he had a different opinion on a secondary topic in our religion. I continued my relationship with him, enjoying his greater respect and appreciation. He keeps in touch with me even after moving to a different region.

People may follow different schools of thought and this should not affect our relations with them. This is essential for strengthening our national unity and progress.

By Ibrahim Mohammed Badawood

Consumer loans

A recent report issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency showed the number of consumer loans taken by citizens are on the increase with the total amount reaching SR333 billion in 2014, which is 67.7 percent more than the loans given by the end of 2010.

This is not surprising as it reflects the growth in the Kingdom’s GDP by 4.7 percent in 2013 against 3.3 percent in other countries. What is surprising is that consumer loans accounted for 25 percent of the country’s nonoil GDP. This means people use 25 percent of the GDP for nonproductive purposes.

Economic experts have advised that this huge amount should be channeled to productive investment instead of wasting on nonproductive expenditures. According to one report, 90 percent of government employees take consumer loans to meet their various needs. High liquidity rate will also push up prices of consumer goods due to big demand.

By Hanan Almarahbi