New Campaign to Raise Awareness About Women and Drug Addiction in Saudi Arabia

Drug addiction is becoming an increasing problem among women in Saudia Arabia, and there’s a new campaign in place to provide help for those who need it. Run by the General Presidency for Combating Narcotics, the campaign is focused on building awareness of the problem and providing education about resources and drug addiction treatment to women who are living with an active addiction.

Amal Khashoggi is the director of women affairs at the presidency. She says: “The presidency approved a plan for the awareness programs by providing social service specialists, school advisers and teachers with vital information on the impact of narcotics on the social, health and economic sides of life.”

Together with the Ministry of Education, the organization has presented workshops and lectures based upon numerous studies conducted about the issue of women and drug addiction in the Kingdom.

The hope is that if women learn the long-term health problems and risks that come with addiction, they won’t experiment with narcotics and other dangerous drugs. Additionally, they hope to be able to identify women who need addiction help resources and connect them with the services they need, according to their age and situation.

The organization does a great deal toward training the advisors who speak to women with drug addiction issues in order to help them guide these women most effectively.

Hana’a Al-Freeh is the director of the preventive unit in the women affairs department. She says: “The awareness workshops involved the participation of 60 women advisers, who learned skills and gained experience and were not only given information.”

The advisors even have pictures of narcotics and learn their effects so that they can better provide information and education to the women who attend their workshops and lectures.

Will it work? That remains to be seen. It’s a new program that has only just begun in a very few cities in the Kingdom. However, if the United States and other countries have shown, education is an excellent first step toward reducing the rate or new incidences of drug addiction and also helping current addicts get the help they need, reducing the rate of those living with an active addiction as well as the rates of issues that coincide with active addiction (e.g., emergency admissions, chronic drug-related health problems, domestic violence, et cetera).

If you would like to learn more about drug addiction treatment for women here in the United States, contact us at The Orchid today.