RIYADH — Abdulelah Al-Shareef, assistant general director of Narcotics Control at the Ministry of Interior, said drug addiction is on the rise all over the Kingdom, reaching 2,000 cases weekly. He said that Jeddah and Riyadh are on top of the lists of cities with 100 cases of drug addiction every week. Al-Shareef said these numbers only cover cases of drug addicts who seek treatment in Al-Amal hospitals. Al-Shareef said there is a need to establish specialized drug treatment centers all over the Kingdom in both private and government sectors. He said drug addiction needs a long period of treatment. Drug dealers are coming up with new ways to lure youth to drug addiction, especially with the absence of family supervision. Al-Shareef said many drug addicts were persuaded through the Internet and social media platforms. He added that most of these sites are Saudi and are targeting youth. Latest studies revealed that the majority of youth who were lured to drug addiction were as young as 13 years old. He urged parents to increase supervision of their children, especially when they are using the Internet.
