(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Dr ahmed al omosh says watching others doing drugs is the first step in drug addiction particularly psychotropic tablets and pills.

a delinquent child can spoil 150 others in his/her circle while 89 per cent of deviant children are emotionally neglected according to a top professor here.

dr ahmed al omosh dean college of arts humanities and social sciences at sharjah university said all children watching smokers can become smokers themselves. watching others doing drugs is the first step in drug addiction particularly psychotropic tablets and pills.

though a broken family can also affect youngsters some 68 per cent of delinquent children however were found to have lived in stable families.

some 89 per cent of young deviants were emotionally neglected dr omosh said at a recent international forum on drugs in dubai. many children in the uae he said were abused in their childhood. it became manifest later when they practised the same abuses on young children even their own kids.

“over 90 per cent of the (parents) of delinquent children know nothing about their children’s friends though a delinquent child can spoil 150 in (his/her) circle” he said giving the example of the son of a criminology expert who took drugs despite all the awareness imparted to him simply because of bad friends who were heavy smokers.

“some 50 per cent of delinquent emirati children were implicated in robbery not because of money but due to spare time and absence of parental care” he said calling for extensive monitoring by all members of society.

dr omosh said the real menace was not marijuana products but spice drugs — synthesised psychoactive designer drugs — which are available in the arab countries and in demand. the problem of substance abuse by youngsters in the arab world is escalating. evidence-based preventive action is urgently needed to combat the menace.

“statistics never tell the whole story. we are in dire need of an arab strategy for drug prevention identification of the risk factors and boosting religious awareness and social bonds” he said.

“we have to reduce drug risks and threats which flow to the region mainly from europe and turkey. saudi arabia is the gcc country most targeted by drug dealers.”

ahmedshaaban?khaleejtimes.com