The gruesome murders that happened in the country in the recent past have terrified the Kuwaiti society to such an extent the legal and security officials say it is time to awaken and wage a relentless war in the menace of drugs addiction.
A local Arabic daily quoting statistics indicated that “the number of deaths in Kuwait resulting from addiction to narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and alcohol during the past 12 years, from the beginning of 2010 until the end of 2021, has reached about 800 cases, despite all the efforts made by the concerned authorities in this regard.” The sources indicated citizens represent 75% of the victims, and that the death rate each is about 67 victims, and that among the victims are 16 women.
The sources say 2018 witnessed an unprecedented jump in the number of victims by 116 cases, registering an increase of about 74% over the deaths of 2017, which amounted to 67 cases, while 2016 was the lowest in deaths with only 33 cases, saying the deceased expatriates were of 20 different nationalities, with three nationalities having the highest death rate, namely Egyptian, Saudi and Iranian, making about 53% of the cases.
In addition, the activity of narcotics and psychotropic substance promoters increased significantly during the first half of this year, as the Directorate-General of Drugs Control managed to arrest 822 drug pushers until last June, representing 34.7% of the total drug crimes recorded during the past year.
According to reports issued by government agencies the drug smuggling activity into the country aims to introduce 9 types of drugs in different ways. Since the beginning of this year, about a ton of hashish has been seized, in addition to a similar amount of narcotic pills.
The reports also revealed an increase in the number of parents who filed complaints against their addict children, and legal procedures were followed in this regard and these complaints were dealt with.
The data indicated that the Ministry of Interior managed to arrest 843 accused in cases of drug use and promotion, and registered more than 510 cases, during the first half of 2022.
Statistics prepared by the drug control administration revealed the danger of overdose, indicating that the age group between 31 and 40 years is the most registered deaths resulting from drug overdose, followed by the group between 41 and 50 years, then the group from 21 to 30 years and from 51 to 60 years, and indicated that males are the most victims.
The most prominent types of drugs smuggled into Kuwait are hashish, shabu, heroin, marijuana, Lyrica powder, chemical, opium, cocaine and various psychotropic substances