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Doha, June 25 (QNA) – Qatar will commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking tomorrow Monday. Every year on June 26, the day is observed all around the world, with the aim of encouraging work and cooperation amongst national and international institutions to achieve a world with no drug use and to combat the spread of it.
The world drug problem affects the health and safety of millions of people all over the world. It also affects the social, economic and political stability of countries, as well as sustainable development and the rule of law.
According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, the volume of drug trade globally amounts to about USD 500 billion, which is close to the global arms trade (about 531 billion USD).
Awareness is the basic respond in dealing with the issue, in which individuals and societies can understand the negative effects of drugs and how to handle and prevent them. Awareness is a powerful tool to reduce the spread of drug use and maintain the safety of societies.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime 2022 annual report showed that the number of drug users has reached about 284 million people around the world, between the ages of 15 and 64. This represents 5.6 percent of the worlds population, and a 26 percent increase compared to 2010.
Addressing the world drug problem is a shared responsibility that requires joint political, security and social efforts in order to stop its spread to vulnerable groups, especially children, youth and educational areas. The failure in confronting the problem makes dealing with it later difficult, therefore prevention efforts should be intensified to achieve a world free of drug abuse.
Preventing the drug problem and creating safe societies can be done by enforcing deterrent laws, adherence to security controls, the use of modern methods and advanced devices, helping drug victims with treatment and rehabilitation, and involving the health, social, economic and judicial sectors in formulating and implementing preventive initiatives.
Qatar is among the leading countries in promoting international cooperation and coordination regarding drug control, through the ratification of the provisions and principles of all regional and international conventions related to combating drugs and dangerous substances. Qatar has also participated in relevant conferences and meetings.
Through the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement at the Ministry of Interior, Qatar is building good relations with agencies, organizations and institutes related to drug control all around the world. This has contributed in seizing smugglers and stopping many smuggling operations targeting the country.
Qatar launched a national preventative education campaign, which included schools, institutes, colleges, universities, youth centers, sports clubs and more. This is to encourage the youth to educate their peers about the dangers of drugs. A “prevention ambassadors” program was also adopted in order to build a group of community alliances with a number of sectors in the country to shield society from drugs. This helped make Qatar one of the cleanest countries in the world in relations to the drug problem. Qatar contributed as well with regional and global efforts to combat drugs, and supported many regional and global programs.
Qatar also funds the “Global Program for Implementation of Doha Declaration”, which is the largest program funded by one country in the history of the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime. It includes many activities aimed at shielding societies, youth in particular, from drugs and crime. It provided activities and services for more that 30,000 specialists in more than 190 countries, technical assistance for more than 15 thousand people from 34 countries to better build their capacities, and educational programs that benefited 120 thousand students and 1700 teachers around the world.
The General Directorate of Drug Enforcement aims through its programs and operational plans to spread awareness amongst the citizens and residents regarding safety from drugs. This is by creating a unified and integrated reference that enables them to deal with the problem and address it early on. This would help the prevention and control efforts, contributes in achieving the department’s goals in raising awareness of the drug problem amongst individuals, families and society, and also promotes Islamic values, ethical standards and life skills.
Director of the Doha-based GCC Criminal Information Center to Combat Drugs (GCC-CICCD) Brig. Gen. Issa Saeed Zayed Al Kuwari said in remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), on the occasion of the International Day Against Drug Abuse, that the center had contributed in creating a unified global network that helps combat drugs worldwide.
Al Kuwari affirmed that GCC-CICCD was proactive in enhancing security work to combat drugs, it also worked to prevent drug abuse through strategies of reducing the demand. He added that drugs are one of the most dangerous pests that the world is dealing with currently, and is a political and social problem that affects developing and developed societies, since it affects the structure of the society and the national economy, and thus disturbs nation security and order.
Given that the drug problem crosses borders, Al Kuwari affirmed that GCC-CICCD is working to cooperate with all national legal authorities, regional centers and international organizations and bodies. He noted that the center works to coordinate with the efforts made by the Member States in the field of combating drugs. In addition to carrying out joint operations and investigations, and coordinating with the competent authorities in collecting data on illegal trafficking of drugs, chemical precursors and other substances.
GCC-CICCD seeks to strengthen the control agencies in the GCC countries by exchanging information through the liaison officers in the center who represent the agencies of the GCC countries. Al Kuwari added that the officers are highly efficient and have many field experiences, which helped stop many smuggling operations and arrest drug smugglers in various GCC countries. The center also aims to enhance and develop the sharing of information between the control agencies in the GCC countries and create a better coordination between them. (QNA)
