Kassala — An unprecedented increase in crime related to drug addiction in the Kassala region has been denounced by the Head of the Department of the National Campaign against Drugs (NCCD). The phenomenon is particularly widespread among young people.

According to a statement by the NCCD, the entire population in the border region is affected, since criminal phenomena mainly spread within families.

Osman explained that the "Afia-Center" of the addiction treatment clinic in Kussala takes in new patients every day. The NCCD office is organizing a campaign to raise awareness among young people about the dangers of drug use in cooperation with the Kassala government, military and police forces and UN agencies. "The most addictive substance is methamphetamine, also known as 'ice', 'which is addictive from the first dose, in contrast to heroin, which usually has to be used several times,' the promoters explained.

Drug abuse is also said to be widespread among young demonstrators. Crystal meth, an addictive stimulant, is said to have been in circulation at recent anti-military junta rallies in Khartoum. But while drug abuse has historically been associated with age groups in their 20s and 30s, abuse is now believed to begin as young as 12.

Although there were reports of drug smuggling in Sudan in the 1970s, it was not until 2003 that a special anti-narcotics agency was established in the country. The situation has worsened over the past decade.