Study sheds light on significant issue of drug trafficking in Kuwait

A recent study conducted by members of the Youth Council has raised concerns regarding the alarming targeting of Kuwaiti youth by drug pushers.

The study, titled ‘When Pain Meets Hope’, presented by Walid Khaled Al-Kandari, Abdul Rahman Khaled Al-Qasba, Latifa Saleh Al-Furaih, and Hessa Hamoud Al-Nawaif, sheds light on the significant issue of drug trafficking in Kuwait, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The study reveals that the total value of drug seizures in just 18 months, from the beginning of 2021 until June 2022, surpassed 200 million dinars. It attributes the targeting of Kuwaiti youth to the increased value of the dinar compared to neighboring countries, making drugs in Kuwait significantly more lucrative for dealers.

According to the study, only a third of the targeted quantities of drugs are seized by authorities, indicating a substantial leakage of drugs into the country. The highest rate of seizures occurs at airports, with China, Iran, and India identified as the top countries from which drugs enter Kuwait.

The study highlights the severe consequences of drug abuse on individuals and society, including health issues, financial problems, family breakdowns, and increased criminal behavior. It emphasizes the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to combat drug trafficking and addiction, addressing legal loopholes exploited by traffickers.

Furthermore, the study underscores the importance of stable family environments in preventing drug abuse among young people. It calls for concerted efforts from government agencies to amend existing policies and regulations to effectively combat the spread of drugs and protect Kuwait’s youth.

Ultimately, the research aims to contribute to achieving the strategic development goals of Kuwait, promoting human and societal development, and realizing the vision of “New Kuwait” 2035 by establishing a robust framework for combating drug trafficking and addiction.

The study highlighted the reasons for abuse and drug addiction such as family problems, including divorce, family disintegration, family neglect, and their lack of responsibility towards their children; excessive pampering of the child by parents, and neglecting their children.

The study also cited, bad role models by parents and/or one or both parents abusing drugs, or seeing abusers in their community, which is considered habitual behavior, or being in an environment that encourages abuse.

Other reason include sexual assaults since childhood, inequality between spouses in the event of religious, social and moral disparity, excessive cruelty to children, psychological pressure from the family on the children.

Reasons borne by the state regarding abuse and addiction — the availability of drugs through smugglers and pushers, and the ease of obtaining them, without a deterrent law, the presence of some areas where there is a large number of young people without state supervision, bringing marginal foreign workers that are not required by development processes in the country, lhe lack of role played by the various media, leniency in the use of narcotic drugs and leaving them unsupervised in private pharmacies and the absence of the school’s role in educational awareness.

Lack of youth centers and centers to raise awareness of the danger of drugs, and they limit themselves to describing it as a scourge only, and there is no awareness of the extent of its harm to the individual in particular and to society in general.