Children illegally using prescription drugs

DUBAI // Boys as young as 12 have been found illegally using prescription drugs including tramadol, Ministry of Interior statistics have revealed.

Col Abdul Rahman Al Owais, deputy director general of the ministry’s anti-narcotics directorate, presented the figures at the fourth annual International Security Education conference, held in Dubai on Wednesday.

Last year 131 cases of drug use in boys under the age of 18 were reported, including one 13-year-old.

That number is down from 2011 when 153 boys were found to be using drugs, including one aged 12 and five aged 13.

In 2010 there were a total of 58 drug case involving children, including two aged 12.

None of the cases involved girls.

“These numbers reflect cases that have come to the attention of the ministry,” said Col Al Owais.

“They don’t take into account recurring offenders. That said, it shows just how prevalent this problem is in the country.”

He was speaking as part of a panel discussion on the decreasing age at which children first use drugs.

“Most of the cases are children taking pills because they are relatively easy to get and cheap,” said Dr Ahmed Al Mousa, dean of the faculty of arts, humanitarian and social sciences at Sharjah University.

Dr Al Mousa said the university’s research had also found that 12-year-olds were using drugs, although it was more prominent in those aged 14 to 16.

The panel agreed drug use was often a result of abuse and neglect.

“The most important common denominator in drug users that we have seen is that they have had problems in school or have dropped out,” said Dr Rafe’a Ghabash, professor of psychiatry, who chaired the panel.

Education is the key to preventing drug use, said Boris Znamenski, programme management officer for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

“Academic failure can lead to drug use and we’ve seen that happen in late elementary,” Mr Znamenski said.

“Punishment does not give the best results. More police on the street will not result to less drugs. If the demand is there, you will have supply.”

He said the UAE had the right idea in grouping tobacco and alcohol use as gateways to drugs.

“When we try to explain this in the West people get angry and say that these are legal, don’t group them with illegal drugs,” Mr Znamenski said.

“But it’s true. It starts with the first cigarette, then the first beer, the first joint, the first sniff.”

Although none of the cases presented involved girls, that does not mean they are exempt from the problem, said Col Al Owais.

“Interestingly none of the cases in these figures were girls. That’s not to say that girls in the UAE don’t use drugs,” he said. “We did have an overdose incident where a girl died a few years ago.”

Girls often suffer from psychological issues that can lead them to drugs, said Dr Ghabash.

“For more than 20 years as a psychiatrist, girls have been approaching me with problems of drug use. I had some just a few months ago,” he said.

“If it were just drugs it would be much simpler to treat, but these girls have multiple social and psychological problems that lead to drugs.”

Awareness about the dangers of drugs needs to be improved in schools to help combat the problem, said Col Al Owais.

“Every time you ask if they have any drug use in their school they refuse the notion,” he said. “But our research shows there is a problem.

“It is the responsibility of the school to inform authorities so that we can work on treatment as soon as possible, rather than hide the facts because they are afraid the school’s reputation will be ruined and they will incur financial losses.”

The way in which the problem is dealt with also needs to be addressed, said Dr Al Moush.

“We have found that there are three main risk factors that can lead to drug use. There are risk factors at home – 63 per cent of the cases we saw had come from broken homes.

“In many of our interviews we find that the father provided everything except an emotional connection.

“There are also risk factors at school, where some of the punishments pose more risk than reward, such as keeping students outside school grounds for being late. That can expose them to the wrong people while the parent thinks their child is safe in school.

“Then there is the risk within the community. Hanging out with the wrong crowd and peer pressure.”