Drug Problems in Saudi Arabia
There has been a lot of talk in the salons over tea in Jeddah and elsewhere about the growing drug problem in the Kingdom. Although there are street drugs which are common as in the West, such as hashish, a broader problem is the misuse of prescription drugs. In order to try to contain this problem regular pharmacies, which sell drugs without a prescription, are restricted from selling non-addicting drugs. In order to fill a prescription for a classified drug the individual must go to a government ran hospital where they are required to show adequate identification. It seems modernity has caught up with the Kingdom bringing it’s woes as well. The following Arab News article is an amusing story with an Arabian twist.
Tuesday 3 March 2009 (07 Rabi` al-Awwal 1430)
HAIL: The last thing you really want to see when you go to a mosque to pray is some stoned dude who thinks he’s an imam steal the limelight. But according to Al-Jazirah newspaper yesterday, this is what a group of worshippers endured recently when they went to a mosque for Friday prayers in Hail. Some random guy off the street came into the mosque and marched up to the front of the room and proceeded to ramble like somebody under the influence of something, the report said. At first the worshippers were polite, at least until it became apparent that the man was channeling some street drug rather than expounding on nobler virtues. The fellow was then dragged out of the mosque by some of the folks in the crowd. They called police and later discovered that the man had a history of doing stupid things while under the influence of God knows what.
