Members of public attend the webinar organised by the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement, yesterday.
Doha: The Department of International Studies and Affairs of the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement has urged the public not to carry any item of others without being sure about its content. The Department said that the person carrying it bears full criminal responsibility if the material is prohibited in the country. This information came yesterday during a virtual seminar organised by the Department in collaboration with the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI).
The Department has also urged people to avoid bringing any suspicious substances or drugs into the country, as some narcotic substances and medicines allowed to be used in a traveller's home country might be prohibited in Qatar. Lieutenant Abdullah Qasim, from the Media and Awareness Section at the Department, spoke about the topic at the webinar, as part of the Directorate’s endeavour to raise community's awareness of the harms and dangers of drugs.
The webinar began with an introduction to the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement, the authority concerned with implementing the operations of controlling and combating various drug crimes that occur in violation of Law No. (9) of 1987 and its amendments regarding drug control. It also explained the work strategy pursued by the Department that is based on reducing the illicit supply and demand for dangerous materials and psychotropic substances. Lt. Abdullah Qasim also pointed to some of the functions of the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement, such as preventing and controlling drug crimes and psychotropic substances, receiving reports and complaints, gathering evidence, carrying out investigation, and cooperating with other relevant departments to reach the perpetrators in preparation for bringing them to trial.
The Directorate’s functions include combating and controlling the crimes of crossborder smuggling through the air, sea and land ports in coordination with the authorities concerned, and combating and controlling the cultivation of narcotic plants or their promotion inside the country.
The webinar highlighted that some people such as those separated from their families, have bad company or deviant behaviour, and those with work or study-related problems and frustration may be more vulnerable to drug addiction than others.
The webinar also dealt with a number of awareness-raising aspects regarding the prevention of the risks that drugs cause to the individual and society, and the types of medicines and medical drugs that are prohibited to be brought into the country or used without approved prescriptions. The webinar urged the public not to carry the belongings of others while travelling to Qatar without checking their contents to avoid legal accountability.
