CAIRO: Even though the numbers say that drug use is declining, the problem is still prevalent in the Middle East, a region that has adopted the role of monitoring narcotics use in developed nations. In a press conference held Wednesday, Mohamed Abdul-Aziz, the regional representative in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), lauded the office's efforts in studying the reasons behind the spread of drugs as well as coming up with solutions to the problem. The Middle East has become a watchdog of sorts, monitoring drug use in developed nations, pointing out the obstacles to controlling drug use and production in respective countries, according to Abdul-AzizHe also spoke of drug trafficking, revealing the different ways drugs are transferred from one country to another such as between the pages of holy books as well as through regular mail. General Gamal Farouk, from the Anti-narcotics General Administration (ANGA), said statistics from Egypt show improvement between 2006 and 2007. "There were around 41,000 court cases relating to drugs in 2006, which has decreased to around 40,000 in 2007. There were also around 44,000 people with drug charges in 2006 and that went down to 43,000 in 2007, he said. As for the percentages of the different types of drugs that the authorities were able to find in years 2006 and 2007, Farouk continued, "cannabis went down from 100,000 kilos in year 2006 to around 70,000 in year 2007, on the other hand hash went up from 5,000 kilos in 2006 to 5,624 in 2007, and heroin also increased from 58 kilos in 2006 to 87 kilos in 2007. Drug trafficking only compounds the problem. Abdul-Aziz said Latin America recently started transferring drugs to Europe through central and west Africa, contributing to the increase of drug use in the area. "[Underprivileged] countries are the ones most likely to have a high percentage of drug users . There are around 10,000 drug users in Gaza, he said. Abdul-Aziz added that Israel has a relatively high percentage of drug users, which poses a threat to the surrounding Arab countries. "Syria, Jordan and Iran are known to be used as passageways through which drugs are delivered to other countries, Abdul-Aziz said. China and Malaysia are exerting the most efforts in fighting drugs within their countries. Abdul-Aziz said that he is optimistic about the situation in Egypt, "especially with the national campaign led by Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak that assesses the drug situation in Egypt and studies the reasons behind it. The national campaign also includes 16 NGOs, according to Abdul-Aziz. He believes that the country should invest in its youth and that they must be given opportunities to present their ideas to avoid resorting to drugs. Meanwhile, General Farouk spoke about the efforts by both the national security forces and the Ministry of Interior in leading several campaigns and crackdowns on areas that are reported to grow drugs in Egypt. He praised the work of the Higher Council for Drug Prevention, headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, for its efforts in monitoring drug use in Egypt. Meanwhile, he said that exposing the drug industry is very hard in Egypt because drug dealers "plant drugs in certain areas that are very hard to reach. The press conference was headed by Maher Nasser, director of the United Nations Information Center (UNIC) in Cairo and hosted by Abdul-Aziz and Farouk.
