Syria: Drugs are available like any normal commodity in the market
“Available like any other normal commodity traded in the market.” With these words, the Syrian young man Karim (25 years old) pointed to the revival of the drug trade in Syria and its promotion among young people in different regions of the country.
Karim said in an interview conducted with him by the Arab World News Agency (AWP) that “the existence of drugs, without exaggeration, has become an axiom, as if it were the fashion of the times, as sellers and dealers spread throughout most neighborhoods, especially the popular ones.”
He added: “Hashish has become part of the hookah smoking ritual for many young men and women, or even with cups of yerba mate, which is one of the most popular drinks in Syria, along with tea and coffee.”
He pointed out that he was repeatedly subjected to attempts by some of his acquaintances to encourage him to use these substances, at a time when he was going through difficult psychological periods due to the pressures and crises that he had suffered during the last two years.
Syrians prepare to destroy quantities of drugs in the eastern countryside of Daraa (archive)
He continued: “They promoted it to me that it would make me forget my problems, misery, and depression and make me happy… but I was aware enough not to follow their words.”
The role of social and economic conditions
Syria has been experiencing a worsening crisis at various levels since the start of the conflict in the country in 2011, amid the collapse of the local currency and the deterioration of services.
The social activist, Saeed Mahrez, who works for a civil society organization, believes that the economic and social conditions are one of the main reasons for the high rate of drug abusers.
He pointed out that the rate of abuse is increasing in a frightening and disturbing manner, and 70 percent of it is among young people of both sexes, who are plagued by depression and loss of hope in the future, which has made them find refuge in drug abuse to escape the reality in which they live and the daily pressures.
Speaking to the Arab World News Agency, Saeed, who worked with various societal groups, said, “The price of stimulants and drugs is within the reach of almost everyone, as the price of a dose starts at 2,000 Syrian pounds and rises depending on the type and quality to reach one million Syrian pounds for types such as cocaine and heroin.” ».
He stated that “crystal meth” is one of the most dangerous and widespread narcotic substances in Syria, saying that 90 percent of users of this substance fall into addiction the first time, as it directly targets the brain and causes a type of hallucinations and schizophrenia in those who use it.
He pointed out that there are medicines sold in pharmacies that have a stronger effect than the drug itself, and that Syrian law prohibits pharmacists from selling them to the patient except according to a prescription from doctors, noting that some pharmacists in violation sell them on the black market for a sum of money that reaches more than 10 times. Its official price.
Crimes and thefts
According to the social activist, the user can resort to crimes and theft in order to obtain enough money to buy drugs, pointing to a noticeable increase in the number of thefts from Damascus pharmacies, which are carried out by addicts who are unable to pay for the drug and are forced to resort to stealing tranquilizers.
Saeed called for stopping publishing jokes about those who use hashish, especially in front of children, because they give a positive image in the subconscious mind about this drug, as it shows that those who use it are light-hearted, fun, and humorous.
He said: “They get used to her image without disapproval,” considering that whoever re-publishes the jokes of “junkers” is like someone who calls for the use of hashish.
The difficult living conditions pushed a large number of Syrian youth to turn to drugs to escape their reality, as in the case of Ghassan, an employee in one of the official departments in Damascus with a monthly salary of 360 thousand Syrian pounds, which is not enough to cover his monthly expenses.
Ghassan (32 years old) took the path of drug abuse, hoping to forget the pressures and obligations of life, according to what he told the Arab World News Agency, but he later recovered from this addiction.
He said, “The abuse of stimulants and drugs in this country begins due to the poor economic situation and the need to forget these conditions through the abuse of these substances, which at first makes the person feel that he is on the way to moving from the bottom of hell to the highest paradise, then the matter turns upside down, and things get worse.” He found himself immersed in an endless series of addiction to unimaginable substances.
As for society and the law’s view of the addict, it is merciless, according to him, as he explained that society sees the addict as a criminal who must be punished and thrown into prison, while the law does not take into account people’s motives and backgrounds, pointing out the lack of an advanced legal framework in the country that helps the addict in a way. It makes him give up drug use.
Curiosity and experimentation
While Saeed’s story is similar to that of his fellow drug users, in terms of the cause of addiction related to living conditions, university student Raghad (22 years old) resorted to drug use because of her curiosity in experiencing the feeling that addicts share.
She said in an interview conducted with her by the Arab World News Agency: “In the first hours after inhaling the substance, I felt blind self-confidence, activity, vitality, and a different feeling. It was possible that tragic news would be conveyed to me and you would see me laughing.”
Raghad’s experiment with the drug “crystal meth” lasted for a week, after she obtained 3 grams of it, which she requested from one of her friends for 8,000 liras, after she had heard about it a lot before at her university.
A handful of Captagon (Internet)
She added: “During that period, I started smoking heavily, and I began to feel numbness and tingling in the back of my head, difficulty speaking with my friends, and my habits changed. I had difficulty thinking logically, difficulty explaining what I wanted to say, excessive sweating, trembling, and excessive thinking. With great difficulty and with the help of my family, I stopped taking it… It is very terrifying; It is as if you are swimming in the middle of the sea and find in front of you a sea vortex that pulls you towards it and swallows you.”
A medical source in the Syrian Ministry of Health, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed to the Arab World News Agency the increase in cases of addiction in its various forms among most age groups, especially among young people and university and school students, pointing out that this phenomenon is alien to Syrian society as a result of the repercussions of the circumstances that… The country experienced it in the previous decade with the start of the war in the country.
The source indicated that the number of drug cases increases from year to year, indicating that their number during the year 2022, according to the statistics of the Syrian Ministry of Interior, reached 4,991 cases, while the number of cases seized in 2016 reached 2,433 cases.
The source said that the Ministry of Health’s tasks in combating are to establish awareness programs for everyone about the dangers of abuse, while monitoring pharmacies and doctors to rationalize the dispensing of psychiatric medications within regular prescriptions, noting that the user is considered sick, and all medications are provided free of charge until he recovers.
According to the source, the centers that treat addiction in Syria are Ibn Rushd Hospital and another section located in Ibn Khaldun Hospital in Aleppo, indicating that in the next stage, centers for treating addiction and post-addiction will be established in all governorates.
The Syrian Ministry of the Interior publishes a number of cases weekly, through its pages on social networking sites, for networks and people who specialize in promoting and dealing. If these issues appear as a whole to be similar in content, their recurrence and wide spread portend the worst as this type of trade becomes a phenomenon.
The latest seizure, according to what the Syrian Ministry of Interior published on its page, last Monday, was: “470 kilograms of the narcotic Captagon pills were seized, equivalent to two million and 820 thousand pills.”
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2024-03-16 15:45:16
