KUWAIT: The National Assembly plays a prime role in the national efforts against drugs and banned enhancement products and enacts legislations aimed at enlightening the youth about narcotics' hazards and prevent the scourge from spreading. MPs and parliamentary committees monitor the relevant authorities' efforts at this level, pinpointing any shortcoming and bringing officials to account for failure to perform their duties properly in the fight against this threat.

Khaled Al-Otaibi

Marking KUNA's campaign against the drugs, chairperson of the parliamentary committee for interior and defense affairs Khaled Al-Otaibi told the news agency that the campaign has come at the high time to take a firm and noticeable stand in the face of "this curse that threatens current and future generations". "During regular meetings of the blocs in the Assembly, we have placed combating narcotics among the priorities," Otaibi said.

Concerned MPs have proposed establishing a national authority for combating narcotics, medical examination prior to marriage and building hospitals and centers for treating addiction, he said, predicting concrete action at this level soon. The lawmaker indicated at MPs' "pressure on the concerned authorities" to carry out "preemptive strikes against drugs' gangs and dealers" and present bounties for informants who report about illicit dealers and depots.

Hamad Al-Obaid

Affirming the high need for "standing together" in the face of the hazard, MP Hamad Al-Obaid, rapporteur of the values committee, warned that many male and female youngsters have become addicted. Confronting this menace is a collective social responsibility, involving first the family, then the National Assembly and the civil society, Obaid said, noting that the commission had debated this danger in meetings attended by officials from the ministry of interior and the customs. He affirmed MPs' readiness to intervene to tackle any "legislative loopholes" impeding the concerned authorities tasks' performance.

The Cabinet decided at the end of October to launch the national campaign against drugs in line with guidelines by HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, aimed at educating the youth about dire effects of addiction and establishing centers to treat the afflicted privately. KUNA, for its part, is playing its part in this respect through its campaign to raise public awareness of the harms caused by the illegal materials, employing all its resources namely the news outlets at the disposal of public guidance against the menace. - KUNA