Is The Egyptian Drug Epidemic Really an Epidemic?
An Epidemic? The concept of a drug epidemic in Egypt might be news to you but its been floating around for a while now. Egypts National Council for Fighting and Treating Addiction released a study reporting 8.5% of Egypts population or 6 million people are addicted to drugs.
That number is shocking if you have cocaine and heroin addicts in mind but according to the study the majority of drug users consume hashish and the Egyptian breed of Marijuana called Bongu (the Egyptian drug of choice which leads the study).
Do I believe Hash and Bongu are drugs? Yes! Do I believe they are addictive? Yes! Do I believe that their consumption by 6 million qualify as an epidemic? No. Six million in a country of nearly 80 is hardly an epidemic especially considering the prevalence of drugs in other countries and the popularity of harder drugs like heroin and cocaine in those countries.
The Egyptians are famous for their love of cannabis, lets face it, we are the Jamaicans of the Middle East and I know few Egyptians who haven’t smoked a little green before but to qualify as an epidemic we’d have to respect the severity of this drugs consumption on society. Besides making people hungry, lazy and filled with laughter, I dont see nearly as much of a threat as heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine.
Don’t think I support smoking weed, bongu or hashish. I’ve never used any drug myself and I cant stand people who do. I’m just not willing to conclude that 6 million pot heads qualify as an epidemic.
The bigger problem is Egypts role as a major drug trafficker. Its location makes it the double door between Africa and Asia with heroin and cocaine coming through Israel, Hash coming through Africa and Bongu being grown domestically.
Man! Someone out there is making a lot of money.
Join the Conversation
if everyone in the middle east smoked pot together there would be no more war
6 million is way too high. Iran has a drug addict population of ~4 million and that is by conservative estimates here.
For Egypt to have a higher drug addiction than Iran seems impossible; Egypt is not next-door neighbors to a major producer of opium like Iran is.
I actually think this number may be a little low. Haven’t read the actual report, can’t find it online, but I’d imagine certain segments of the population were not factored into this estimate. I’d like to see the samples of respondents for their survey.
Either way, for only six million people, they sure spread themselves out across Egypt pretty well.
There are two solutions to drug abuse, none of which involve making them illegal…
1) education – teach people about the negative consequences in an honest way.
2) safer drugs – improve the safety of recreation drugs. For instance provide consumable or inhaler alternatives to pot. This would be less damaging to the lungs.
gary
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