RIYADH: A total of 24 Saudi government agencies, mostly from interior, education and health ministries, have teamed up and launched a campaign to curb the use of drugs and intoxicating pills in schools.

“The campaign will target students, parents and teachers to spread the message against this social evil,” said a statement released by the National Commission for Drug Control on Sunday.

“The 12-day campaign, under the aegis of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif is being run across the Kingdom,” said Mohammed Al-Nassar, adviser at NCDC. The campaign, with a mandate to monitor and curb use of drugs and illegal drinks, in schools has been launched with the sole aim of saving lives and careers of innocent students.

“The Kingdom is counting on the young generation to drive development further … and it will be a deadend if the youths indulge in consuming illicit drugs, which has been one of the causes of school dropouts,” said the NCDC statement.

The NCDC has urged students to focus on their studies, saying that drug abuse is the major cause of many crimes like domestic and gender-based violence, theft and assault.