Moroccan NGO goes to war with drug addiction

2007-03-04

The Media Observatory for Youth is calling for a more concerted effort to fight drug addiction in the country.

By Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca -- 04/03/07

[Getty Images] Drug addiction in Morocco is affecting school kids

The Media Observatory for Youth, a Moroccan watchdog group, has been waging a relentless battle to combat drug use among young people.

The group recently launched a petition calling for a national campaign to fight drug addiction. The petition calls for to raising awareness and motivating people to action against this serious epidemic, affecting primarily young Moroccans.

During a national colloquium last week in Rabat, the Observatory screened an eight-minute documentary film entitled Youth and the Hell of Drugs, prepared in co-operation with the United Nations Population Fund and the Moroccan Ministry of Health. The film depicts the plight of young people battling addiction, and contains first-hand accounts of the dangers and destructive effects it has on young peoples' lives.

"We let the [addicts] speak without any commentary… to say how it began for them," said Kaoutar Tbatou, director of media and communications at the Observatory. "The film will play an important part in the planned awareness campaign. For example, there is a young woman who was raped, and found in drugs a way to forget her troubles; a young man who initially considered it a moment of fun with friends, and then because of it he became an addict."

The colloquium discussed several topics related to narcotics and health, the role of civil society in fighting drugs, the danger of drugs becoming widespread in educational institutions, and the role of the media in fighting drugs. Youth representatives from national and international NGOs in 27 Arab and African states participated.

The Observatory was established in 2002 to shed light on problems facing youth in Moroccan society. It employs young people working in media and communications, and a number of social workers, brought together by their desire to present the problems of young people to national decision makers.

"The terrifying spread of drugs amongst young people is what motivates us and makes us sound the alarm to prompt immediate intervention from all those concerned to put a stop to this epidemic", said Abdelwahed Ziat, Secretary-General of the Observatory.

In addition to organising health awareness campaigns on the dangers of drug abuse, the Observatory has called for an increase in the number of treatment facilities, and demands that confiscated drug assets be used to create rehabilitation institutions. It has also fought to establish help lines and to expand the role of the National Committee for Drug Prevention. The NGO also wants to see increased communication between educators, families and young people.

According to a report by the High Committee for Housing published in 2005, 5% of secondary school students use illegal drugs. The report of the Mediterranean Project for Inquiry into Alcohol and Other Drugs in Schools, also from 2005, showed that 21% of students aged 15-17 in the Rabat-Sale used alcohol, 14% used marijuana, 20% used hallucinogenic drugs, and 8.7% used miscellaneous narcotics.

Although Morocco is making a tremendous effort to fight illegal drugs, the country lacks a comprehensive campaign of awareness and prevention and awareness. Treatment is expensive and inadequate, with only two public facilities located in Sale and Tangiers.