Kuwait Turns Into Transit Point For The Spread Of Narcotics – Steep Rise In Drug Abuse

The head of the Clinical Psychological Unit at the Addiction Treatment Center, and the official of the “Midway” house, the first psychiatrist, Dr. Yaqoub Al-Shatti, said a tender has been fl oated to build a new center for the treatment of adolescents and women from addiction, alongside the current center in the specialized medical area of Al-Sabah, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Al-Shatti revealed this is done in coordination with the Civil Service Commission to create the so-called ‘addiction counselor’ that began work two years ago, and is currently in the final stages to help ‘patients’ recover from addiction.

In an interview with Al- Seyassah daily, Al-Shatti denied what was said about the center’s refusal to receive patients. He stressed there is no waiting list at the center and explained the center is the same as any other hospital and works on the appointments system.

Al-Shatti added the specified period from the time a patient arrives at the reception of the outpatients clinic and beginning of treatment takes not more than one week which is not accepted by some patients who insist on being admitted on the same day, and we understand their need for that, but we sometimes cannot, given the nature of the work.

He cautioned that the strategic location of Kuwait near countries known to promote drugs has made it a transit point for the transportation of drugs and this has facilitated the promotion of drugs into the country. He indicated the nature and quality of the drugs vary from one country to another, and that heroin and shabu are considered the most traded in Kuwait, unlike cocaine, which is frequently promoted in America and hashish in Egypt, for example. He noted that last year more than 320 drug abusers passed the first stages of treatment and indicated the center receives patients of all nationalities for the age group of 18 years and above. The stages of treatment vary from 6 months to a year and a half.

 

SOURCE : ARABTIMES

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