More and more young women are becoming addicted to drugs in the Kingdom as drug dealers, eager for a steady source of income, start to prey on young women at universities and in residential districts. Many dealers specifically target wealthy young women. Many of these women now end up at Al-Amal hospital in Jeddah, the hospital that was recently in the news because of the escape of a number of addicts, amidst reports of poor treatment and maladministration. Hisa, a young woman, fell into the trap of drug addiction after the divorce of her parents. “It all started with me feeling deprived of parental love,” she said. “Nobody was looking after me, so I thought I would find someone to take care of me.” She then met a man whom she thought she loved, but who introduced her to all kinds of intoxicants, including Captagon pills and hashish. She was officially engaged to him, but instead of getting married, she got hooked on hash joints. “When my mother discovered my addiction, she made me break up with him,” Hisa said. However, the downward slide of her life had already begun. Because there was no place at that time to treat women addicts in Jeddah, her mother took her to an Arab country for treatment and spent thousands of riyals to help her recover. She is now well on her way to recovery. Others are not so lucky. Specialists at Al-Amal hospital related the story of Mona, who took a heroin overdose and died on her bed at home. Her friends said that she had made friends with another female student, who might have sold her the heroin. Ever since Mona's death, this female friend has been missing. She was not even found to be a student. It appeared that she was a dealer who had sneaked onto the campus to sell drugs, Mona's friends told her family. Psychologist Radia Al-Hakami said that an addict requires a great deal of help to recover, starting with psychological counseling and engagement in meaningful social activities. “Many women have come to my clinic for help,” she added, stressing the confidentiality of all her cases. Family disintegration in Saudi society is a major force driving girls into addiction, said Ibtihaj Falatah, a physician at the ward. “They think that drugs will make them forget their reality,” she said. Hashish is the most widely circulated type of drug among college girls, she said. Falatah said that she hoped that the new drug treatment ward at the hospital would help deal effectively with the increasing cases of women addicts. There are no clear statistics of the number of women addicts, said hospital consultant Muhammad Al-Jindi. The hospital has employed 26 women social and religious specialists to deal with addiction cases, he said. The ward offers out-patient clinics for a six-month treatment course. It is expected that a 20-bed ward will soon be available to hospitalize advanced cases. “Addict women have tendency to go back to drugs if no help is provided,” said Khaled Ba-Hatheq, a family medicine consultant. “Women are more aggressive addicts than men,” he said. Al-Amal Hospital should be expanded to offer help to women addicts, he said. Afaf Al-Harbi, a social researcher, said that society should stand up and face up to the problem. “There is no point denying the fact that we have a growing number of addicted women,” she said. “The number has surprisingly increased over the past few years,” she added, suggesting an awareness campaign should be conducted among college girls. “We have celebrated the new ward at Al-Amal Hospital, but much more work needs to be done.” Receptionists at the hospital said that dealing with female addicts is a “very delicate” issue. “We have been taught how to guide them and handle their cases,” one receptionist said. Even the Ministry of Health cannot provide approximate figures of addicted women. “Only a few addicts have sought help in Dammam and Riyadh,” said Abdulhamid Al-Habib, director of Psychological and Social Health at the Ministry of Health. Security authorities and the National Committee for Combating Drugs may have a better picture of the figures, he said. A new 500-bed hospital for treating drug addicts will be constructed soon near the King Khaled National Guard Hospital, east of Jeddah, he said.
