Quoting a study conducted by Sharja Emirate-based Police Research Center, the UAE official daily “Al-Itthad” reports in its Saturday issue that “United Arab Emirates nationals have constituted the largest number of those legally charged in different lawsuits, a percentage stands at 44, representing 2506 people out of 5682 of different Arab and foreign nationals”. As an age control, those charged are between 21 and 30, representing 46% of the total convicts.

The reason lurking behind such increment of drug abuse cases is attributed to the existence of multiple nationals and adopting the open-door policy, the study pointed. Moreover, the economic breakthrough occurred in the UAE owing to the oil prospecting, the study added, has triggered a great deal of adverse social impacts as opposed to conservative habits and customs of the principle society.

According to the statistics the UN Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention revealed, illegal drug industry stands at 8% of the entire volume of world trade, a percentage representing 10 fold of all official development aids. The problem of drugs, stated the office, in the member states of Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development is assessed over $120 billion per annual, an earmarked amount of money distributed among the enforcement of drug-related legislations, legal pursuits, prison departments, prevention and Medicare programs, adding to that the financial losses inflicted after perpetrating drug-related crimes.

The rate of admitting drugs had reached some 78 cases in 1997. The same interval of time had witnessed 131 cases of drug trading, while 470 cases of possession and drug abuse were registered. However, the number retreated to record 421 cases in 1998. Though Kuwait suffers from such serious problem, it is remarkably noticed that drug cultivation or the manufacture of narcotic drugs is not spread there. Nevertheless, the vicious scourge had claimed 25 lives in 1997, with a three-case increase in comparison with that of 2001. In 1998, 39 people died, and 45 people passed away following drug abuse.

The number of drug addicts in Kuwait is estimated at 20,000. Such a figure does not conceal the seriousness in view of a country whose land extension is barely 15,000 kilometers, and less than a million people in population.

Driving under the influence, also known as DUI, of drugs or alcoholic beverages has become the major cause of the increasing traffic accidents percentage. According to the statistics uncovered by the General Department of Traffic, the total number stood at 550 traffic accidents due to driving under the influence in 1998. The latter figure incremented to reach 531cases in 1999. Moreover, the governorates recorded 357 DUI cases in 2000.

The international statistics point out that between 1950 and 2000, smoking, regarded the principle entry to drug addiction, claimed 60 million lives in the developed countries; a figure that exceeded the death toll WW II triggered.

With one-third percentage of the total world production volume, China ranks first on the international list of tobacco producing and consuming countries. In China, some 350 million smokers are consuming 1.16 trillion cigarettes annually.

Since figures in southern Europe increase, contrary to those in Britain, smoking among females constitutes a grave problem. In France, however, the percentage of smoking females elevated, where 46% of smoking females are aged between 15 and 24 as opposed to 5% of those who exceed 55 of age. The percentage of smoking females, between 15 and 24 years of age, increasingly reaches some 49% in Spain.