New drug addiction centres for Saudi Arabia?

Categories

Addiction Treatment
Alcohol
Drugs
Gambling
In the papers
On TV

News Archive

Home » News » Drugs » New drug addiction centres for Saudi Arabia?

by Change | 27 May 2010

Bookmark

E-mail

New drug addiction centres are likely to be set up in Saudi Arabia following an educational visit to the US.

A network of alcohol and drug addiction treatment centres could be established in Saudi Arabia despite the extent of the stigma that exists in the Middle Eastern country.

Mohammed Al-Turaiki, chief executive of Saudi Care of Rehabilitation and Health Care, which is based in Riyadh, the capital, recently travelled to Michigan in the US to find out more about addiction treatment, the Associated Press reports.

Because Saudi Arabia is a conservative Islamic state, there are no official statistics on drug or alcohol use, with the use of both strictly forbidden in the country.

This means that those in need of drug or alcohol addiction support rarely speak about their problem, even to members of their own family.

"We will need to build an Islamically grounded 12-step culture and meetings to support patients post-discharge," Mr Al-Turaiki told the news provider.

He visited Michigan's Brighton Hospital, which has strong links with the local Arab community, and hopes to use his visit as a springboard to establish treatment programmes in Saudi Arabia.

Reuters reported that, in 2007, Saudi Arabia established its National Committee for Combating Drugs, which aims to curb the spread of drug use in the country.

Bookmark this: