Crystal... Security efforts and family responsibility for prevention and treatment

Petra monitored the figures published by the Public Security Directorate during the campaign targeting Crystal dealers, users, and promoters from August 3 to September 13, where it dealt with 776 cases, including 244 cases of trade, promotion, and 532 cases of use, and arrested 1244 dealers, users, and holders of Crystal. Professor of Law and Legislation, Dr. Sakhar Al-Khasawneh, said that the figures indicate a great effort being made by the competent authorities in dealing with dealers and users of the deadly Crystal substance, pointing out that the addicted user is granted exemption from punishment only if he requests treatment before being caught with this crime according to Article (9) paragraph (f) of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law, which states that 'no public prosecution shall be brought against those who use narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and preparations, or are addicted to them if they apply before being caught by themselves or by one of their relatives to specialized treatment centers affiliated with any official body or to the Anti-Narcotics Department or any security center requesting their treatment'.

He explained that Article (19) of the same law states that 'anyone who brings, produces, manufactures, smuggles, buys, sells, possesses, or transports any narcotic drug, psychotropic substance, preparation, or plant producing such substances or effects, or imports or exports them, or deals or trades them in any form, including receiving or delivering them or mediating in any of these operations, or brings them into the Kingdom's territory or takes them out of it, except in cases permitted by the applicable legislation, shall be punished with temporary hard labor for a period of not less than 15 years and a fine of not less than ten thousand dinars and not more than twenty thousand dinars.'

He added that this punishment applies to anyone who cultivates any plant that produces any narcotic or psychotropic substances, smuggles, imports, or exports such plants, or deals or trades them in any form, including possession or acquisition, purchase, sale, receipt, delivery, transportation, storage, etc., at any stage of their growth or condition.

He pointed out that the punishment is life imprisonment and a fine of not less than twenty thousand dinars and not more than thirty thousand dinars if any of the crimes stipulated in paragraph (a) of this article is committed in case of recidivism or if the offender is an employee, user, or worker entrusted with combating crimes related to narcotic or psychotropic substances or supervising the handling or trading of them, or possessing them, or any of the acts stipulated in this law, or commits them in conjunction with a minor or uses a minor to commit them.

He noted that the penalties for promotion and trafficking are severe and deterrent; they start with five years for the promoter and fifteen years for the dealer, and may reach life imprisonment or the death penalty in aggravated cases, and there are penalties for the user in Article Nine of the law.

For his part, Sultan Al-Khalaila, President of the 'Sind' Association for Youth Thought, explained that young people must be extremely cautious not to fall into the trap of using this deadly substance, which causes great harm to human life and leads to death, disconnection from reality, and leaves devastating effects on the family and society. The conscious role of young people should be to support anti-narcotics officers in preventing drug dealers from achieving their goals.

He pointed out that there are many youth programs that fill the time of young people and their exploitation is enough to make them good, productive, and beneficial to Jordan, and these programs are spread throughout all regions of Jordan. Here comes the role played by young people in protecting society and the family from these substances that produce a harsh and heavy toll and results that may end the lives of young people in the prime of their youth who could have been productive and effective in life.

He stressed that the figures issued by the Public Security Directorate are not just numbers, as behind them are eyes that do not sleep around the clock, and there are victims targeted by drug dealers, and deadly and dangerous substances were seized during the past weeks, and one must stop at these numbers to prevent this substance from spreading among the members of the community.

For her part, Dr. Rawda Rasem Al-Rumaihi, Professor of Developmental Psychology, said that the family is the basis for prevention, protection, and treatment from this deadly substance and supporting the competent authorities in stopping its use, possession, or trade, through proper upbringing and making a bold decision when it is discovered, or when one of its members falls into the clutches of these narcotic substances, pointing out that the primary role of the father, mother, and siblings is to monitor the strange behavior that may start to appear in one of the family members.

She added that making a mistake in reaching this substance is possible, but this mistake is easy to correct at the beginning, and the need for specialized centers for addiction treatment increases as the period of use and the doses increase, and negligence in monitoring the strange behavior that may be exhibited by an individual may have disastrous consequences for the person himself, the family, and society in general.

She pointed out that the human soul needs monitoring and preventing from trying anything, as the family, especially the parents, must follow every detail of their children's lives, their friends, their relationships, their phones, and monitor every detail because the development that is happening today is not easy, and the openness and social media platforms have facilitated reaching and targeting the victims, which places the responsibility primarily on the family, calling for not hesitating to report the user and treat him, especially since the treatment protocol is characterized by great secrecy, and recovery begins with the courage to make a decision.

Professor of Islamic Education, Tariq Taher, said that the harm caused to the family and society by narcotic substances is very great and this is forbidden, and the family that builds its members on the fear of God and the protection of the soul and the avoidance of its harm ensures the community's immunity to face those who trade in these substances, pointing out that whoever promotes or trades these substances will receive two punishments, the first of which is worldly, followed by a harsher punishment in the hereafter, and will bear the burden of the victims he targeted and exploited, and may be the cause of killing souls without right.

He added that the state, with all its competent authorities, is making great efforts to protect the community from these deadly substances, which must be supported through awareness in the family, school, university, from the pulpits of mosques, and youth centers to support the state's efforts to prevent and protect the community and human beings from all these poisons.

The family of the young man Ghaith (23 years old) explained their journey with their son's suffering during his use of Crystal, where they suddenly discovered strange behavior that started with frequent absences from home, darkness under the eyes, paleness, and lack of sleep, and after months, they discovered by chance that he was addicted to narcotic substances that they had never known before.

His mother added that she presented the case to her brother, who works as an engineer, and after a while, it turned out that it was the Crystal drug, and he had reached the point of addiction, so the decision was to treat him, where the family resorted to an official treatment center, and today, after about a year, he is still recovering and trying to reintegrate into his normal life, confirming that it was a very bitter experience, starting with his suffering and the suffering of his body, passing through the suffering of the family, sleepless nights, and the pain he caused to himself and his family.

She said that what the security agencies and specialists are doing in the fight against drugs must be supported by a major role of the family in taking care of family members and reporting promoters, dealers, and users of this deadly substance, pointing out that the family lived these difficult and harsh details due to a young man falling into the clutches of this deadly substance.