67% drug users relapse after recovery

Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH – In the Kingdom 67 percent of people who recover from drug addiction have a relapse, according to data from drug rehabilitation and treatment facilities. However, Secretary-General of the National Commission for Drug Control Abdullah Al-Sharif said there are no accurate official statistics for the number of those who have recovered from drug addiction. He also said the annual cost of treatment per person in the Kingdom is around SR120,000. Al-Sharif said rehabilitation programs halfway include ongoing and extended care at home, but some addicts are treated for up to two years in Al-Amal hospitals. Treating patients for drug abuse depends on several factors summarized by psychiatrists and experts in the treatment of addiction at the World Health Organization. Psychiatrist Mona Sawaf said scientific research has shown that a combination of medical treatment and behavioral therapy is the best way to treat those suffering from addiction. She outlined four phases of treatment: detoxification, preventing patients from relapse by providing alternative medicines, psychological treatment, and finally easing the pressure on them and moving them away from the addicted stage. Recent studies indicate growing unemployment rates among drug users due to a sense of failure and family disintegration. One recovering addict, Fahd Yazid, said he was born into a poor family and his classmate encouraged him to skip high school and selling drugs instead. "They were taking advantage of me as a mediator for trafficking,” he said. “Then I fell in the trap of dealing and when a number of them were arrested I tried very hard to resort to treatment. After two years of treatment I found myself outside my community. Even my family kicked me out. I struggled so much until my mental status stabilized. Eventually I got a job with a salary of less than SR3000, but it is a good start for me after I lost my health and many years of my life."