Mishal Al-Otaibi Saudi Gazette RIYADH – The Anti-Drugs Directorate has said it received 25 addiction cases, all of them Saudi students under 30 years of age on scholarships in the United States and Canada. The students were unable to complete their higher education programs due to drug problems. Abdul Elah Al-Shareef, assistant director, said the students' fathers requested the directorate to treat their sons who got involved in drugs, especially hashish and fenethylline (a milder alternative amphetamine and marketed under the brand-name Captagon), abroad and became hooked on them. The directorate helped the parents admit their sons to the rehab center. Captagon abuse is common in Arab countries and counterfeit versions of the drug continue to be available despite the fact that it was banned 20 years ago. Many of these counterfeit Captagon" tablets actually contain other amphetamine derivatives that are easier to produce, but are pressed and stamped to look like Captagon pills.
