70 Percent of Drug Users Start at School in S. Arabia

More than two-thirds of the people who use drugs in Saudi Arabia started when they were in middle or high school, the country’s drug enforcement agency said.

“We have evidence that 70 percent of the people who consume drugs in Saudi Arabia first experience with them when they were students in middle and high school,” the anti-drug directorate general said. “We have launched studies into how the media is addressing the issue of drugs as we look into more ways to curb the phenomenon. Around 60 percent of our campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs target families while the remaining 40 percent are aimed at young people,” the directorate said in remarks published by local Arabic daily Al Watan on Tuesday.

Around 90 percent of the campaigns are carried out by government entities while the private sector is involved in the remaining 10 percent, the Gulf News reported.