the national reports that the UAE’s

‘new anti-narcotics unit will take the fight against drugs beyond the UAE’s borders as the country increasingly becomes a target for international drug smugglers.‘

lets hope that the authorities take a more enlightened approach to the domestic drugs issues than they have so far.

drugs in dubai.
drugs have always featured in dubai. at high school, heroin use was common (we had ODs, arrests, death row sentences, the works – and that was just my school!). the dubai party scene (this data may be out of date as i haven’t really been in it for years) was dominated by the usual suspects ecstasy, cocaine, hash although special k was unusually popular due to its relatively easy supply (all you needed was a corruptible veterinarian easy enough given dubai’s horse industry). and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. no doubt as the city has grown so has the drugs’ market.

misguided approach.
the minimum 4 years sentences handed out to all drug users is ludicrous. the focus should be on dealers not end users. really how much good has it been locking away all these 18 year old party kids who are of no real risk to anyone. and how does that play next to the city’s goal of becoming the region’s creative hub. the authorities need an enlightened approach.

enforcement needs to differentiate between casual recreational use of of cannabis, ketamine, ecstasy and cocaine and the real drug problem – the rife heroin addiction – a particular problem amongst young local men.

it maybe wishful thinking given the region’s social conservatism to hope for the grown-up solution – legalization and heavy taxation- but the authorities would be smart to accept that drugs will never be eliminated from society and attune their strategy to minimizing the harm being caused. drug addiction is widely underreported in this part of the world but we need a better and more frank understanding of the real problems and risks in order to successfully address them.

unfortunately, delusional statements like these are not encouraging:

“Our goal will not be just to arrest the dealers but to create an environment that has no drug demand so that drug dealers will not see a market here”

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