Social media ‘can be drug bait for teenagers’

Parents urged to keep a close eye on teenage children frequenting online chat rooms

Social media and online chat rooms provide an easy route to lure teenagers into drug addiction, a rehabilitation specialist who has dealt with addicts said.

Amal Al Fuqaei, who works at the Anti-Narcotics Department in Dubai Police, said: “Smart apps and social media help to spread the addiction. Some young addicts recently caught by police claimed that chat rooms were the main reason behind their addiction as they met other addicts who lured them into it. Social media is like a trap for kids.”

Statistics

Statistics by Dubai Police show that 62 per cent of those caught in drugs cases last year were ages 15 to 25.

“This is a critical age and parents must watch their children and know their friends as it won’t be easy catch to drug dealers and addicts,” she said. “For example, if parents inform Dubai Police about their addict son, he won’t be arrested, but will be sent to a rehabilitation centre to recover.” Dubai Police urged parents to call if they suspect that their children may have turned to drugs.

Dubai Police said many parents now cooperate and even bring teenage children for monthly checks even after they complete rehabilitation.

“Recently, a father brought his 17-year-old son, who became an addict two years ago when a friend gave him an illegal painkiller. The boy claimed that he wanted to experience what it would be like to do drugs. He is now recovering at the rehabilitation centre,” Al Fuqaei said.

In a second case, two young sisters were among several people arrested when one of their friends died of a drug overdose. “One sister was in college while the other was in high school. They met a young man who was a drug addict and he lured them into the drug habit. They were taking drugs in a house and, when they woke up, one of the young men had died of an overdose. Police arrested them all. Their family was shocked when they discovered that the girls were addicts involved in a serious drug case,” Al Fuqaei added.

The sisters are now on trial and are also going through a rehabilitation plan.