UAE | Health
Drug addicts 'must be treated as individuals with illness'
Anti-trafficking laws are deemed strict enough to control smuggling.
- By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:16 June 29, 2009
Dubai: Senior legislators, police officials, lawyers and experts in combating narcotics have said that drug addicts should be looked at as individuals with an illness and not as criminals, at the fifth "Forum on Legislative Rulings on Narcotics".
"Drug addiction is a social matter and problem which should be dealt with ... [by] ... the entire community. We should change the negative perception that it is the sole responsibility of the interior ministry or police security officials," said Brigadier Abdullah Al Bedaiwi, Deputy Director General for Criminal Security and Deputy Chairman of the Anti-narcotics Supreme Committee at the UAE Ministry of Interior.
The UAE is known to be a transit country for drug traffickers, he said, adding that there is the challenge of geographically being close to countries that produce narcotics such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and India and in close proximity to European countries consuming these substances.
"The matter is under control and laws governing all cases of narcotics, especially smuggling and trafficking, are strict enough to curb the matter.
"We also stress the importance of the international community standing against calls to permit the use of some light drugs and legalising the distribution of drugs in what [are] known as drug-injecting rooms. This is against international agreements ratified by most countries, which contribute to the increase in the number of addicts," he said.
Drug addiction is a global problem and finding ways to help, support and assist drugs addicts is extremely important, said Abdul Rahman Al Fardan, a UN expert in anti-narcotics affairs.
Section 43 of the federal law on narcotics stipulates that addicts surrendering to authorities will not be detained or charged for their addiction or referred to the public prosecution.
The UAE looks at drug addiction as a form of illness that requires treatment. However, "we wish authorities will revise the UAE law with regards to convicting drug addicts. I believe in some cases imprisoning addicts for four years is a harsh sentence since it will destroy the addict's life.
"We hope more rehabilitation institutions will be constructed to fully deal with addicts instead of placing them in prison," Al Fardan said.
According to Brigadier Abdul Jaleel Mehdi, Director of the Anti-Narcotics Department of Dubai Police, legislative cases related to narcotics require revision and improvement every now and again for many reasons. He said the most significant reason is that international drug trafficking is no longer a national matter but surmounts state borders.
"Fortunately, Arab countries are not a hub for international organised crime but we are increasing developing economically and socially in the midst of globalisation which requires dynamic responses in all aspects including legislation to protect society from the dangers of narcotics," he said.
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