Drug Rehab Solutions for Egypt
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Brief History of Drug Abuse in Egypt
The ancient culture of Egypt includes an equally ancient history of drug and alcohol abuse. Opium and hashish have been used in Egypt for centuries, and recent tests have found cocaine in mummified remains—a discovery that has confounded historians who considered that the coca plant was purely a South American phenomenon until recent times.
It was in the 1980s that use of narcotics began to escalate to serious levels. Currently, Egypt is one of Africa’s top cultivators of cannabis and opium poppies. The number of hectares discovered that are dedicated to growing addictive substances has been increasing steadily over the last decade. The amount of “bango”—the local name for marijuana—seizures have also been increasing from 60,000 kg per year up to 80,000 kg and above. In addition to cultivation, opium and heroin are transported in from Southwest and Southeast Asia.
The most vulnerable points for drug trafficking activities are those dealing with the transportation of people and cargoes—the Cairo airport and ports along the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. Drugs are smuggled between Gaza and Egypt and come across the Atlantic Ocean to Western Africa and from there north into Egypt for distribution into Europe. Drug trafficking in Egypt is a core activity of transnational organized crime networks.
One report stated that the lack of capacity at Cairo’s main airport probably meant that this facility is used as a major hub for the transport of drugs to Europe.
Cannabis and Opiates
It is estimated that addicts in Egypt are spending $2.9 billion on drugs each year. Estimates on how many people are addicted to opiates, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulants or heroin vary greatly, but range between 600,000 and 800,000, according to a 2007 study.
Half the 129,850 people who entered drug rehabs in 2007 were addicted to cannabis, while another 43 percent were dependent on opiates of various types. Another seven percent were addicts of amphetamine-type stimulants that would include ecstasy and methamphetamine.
The slums of Cairo and Giza are hotbeds of addiction. These slums are among the largest in the world and are home to hundreds of thousands of street children. Some authorities estimate that the number of these children may reach one million. Population density reaches 60,000 people per square mile, far denser than Calcutta or Djakarta. Some residents make a living collecting garbage from the winding Cairo streets that are too narrow for motor vehicles. The garbage is then sorted and salvageable materials are then sold. Entire decrepit and abandoned neighborhoods are stacked with non-salvageable refuse. Street children living in these areas find oblivion through the use of glue-sniffing, cannabis or prescription drug abuse.
For those with more income, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, ecstasy, and methamphetamine are regularly abused. More than 12 percent of Egyptian students are dependent on drugs and another nine percent to bango and three percent to hashish.
In 2005, the total number of heroin addicts in Egypt was estimated to run somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000. A 2007 report stated that 8.5 percent of Egyptians—or six million people—are addicted to drugs. The majority of them are between 15 and 25 years of age. Rising rates of unemployment are said to contribute to increases in addiction. For example, in one area, 20,000 young men are employed compared with another 30,000 that are out of work.
Egypt Drug Treatment Facilities Unevenly Distributed
Substance abuse treatment falls within the province of psychiatrists in Egypt, but only a small handful are trained to specialize in addiction recovery. So most cases are treated by general psychiatrists without special education or experience. The number of inpatient beds assigned to addiction treatment is only about 600, about half administered by the government and the other half by non-governmental agencies or the private sector.
As the drug rehabilitation facilities are scattered throughout Egypt, millions of Egypt’s 68,000,000 people are not able to avail themselves of help at these treatment centers. Some might be able to enroll in opiate-substitution drug programs, where they could receive doses of methadone or Suboxone to alleviate cravings and hold off withdrawal pains.
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Egyptian Drug Trafficking
Because Egypt sits at a significant crossroads, the country is subjected to the trafficking of drugs from every direction. It controls the Suez Canal, the vital connection between the Mediterranean Sea and Europe, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. This shipping channel is critically important to international commerce and this fact is not missed by those with illicit substances to move.
- From Morocco, cannabis products—particularly hashish—travel to the Middle East. Morocco is by far the largest producer of hashish in the world.
- Amphetamines produced in Eastern Europe move through Egypt on their way to Southern Asia. Amphetamine is often pressed into tablets and sold as Captagon.
- Opiates and cannabis are both produced in the fertile fields of the Nile Valley as well as on the Sinai Peninsula, providing plenty of supplies for local residents.
- Illicitly-manufactured tramadol is produced in China and India and sold on the streets of Cairo. Unlike the tramadol sold in other countries, these pills also contain amphetamines. The pills sell for as little as 29 cents each. They offer a solution for those people strained by poor economic conditions. In Egypt, only cannabis is abused more than tramadol.
Recent Changes
Recent political changes in Egypt seem to have opened up the drug market in urban areas. Drug prices dropped and supplies are more adulterated, reducing the potency. A 2010 report estimated the value of the drug market at $3.9 billion. It’s expected that this number has increased since then.
In Cairo, the rate of drug use is 40% higher than the world average. Abuse is greatest in areas of poverty within the city.
Egypt’s Porous Borders
Egypt has a similar problem to that of the United States. Despite a hefty border fence between Israel and Egypt, drug smugglers work out ways to move drugs across the frontier and into Egypt’s cities. In a recent case, fifteen smugglers used ladders to get near the top of the border fence and threw 100 kilograms of hashish over the top. The two smugglers on the Egyptian side were arrested.
It’s not uncommon for these smugglers to be armed and to engage in firefights with soldiers on either side. Smugglers, as they try to move their products across the border, have even been known to shoot anti-tank missiles at the military.
Addiction Treatment is Scarce
An Egyptian trying to find help for addiction may have a hard task ahead of him. There is still a very high stigma attached to drug use or addiction in the country. Most treatment is done in psychiatric hospitals. Some private unlicensed centers have sprung up recently, preying on those who fear the public scandal of admitting themselves to a licensed psychiatric facility. But there have been reports that these unlicensed and unscrupulous centers lock their clients away, beat them or even electroshock them before letting them return home while making sure they get full payment for this torture.
In dramatic contrast, the Narconon center in Egypt uses healthy methods to enable each person to recover a productive, enjoyable life.
Recovery at Narconon Egypt
At this resort location in Ismailia, each person is supported through their withdrawal with generous nutritional supplementation that helps calm sickness and muscle pain. One-on-one work with the staff—around the clock if it’s needed—helps keep each client focused on recovery and the future instead of the trauma and agony of the past.
When each person is fully sober, is sleeping well and eating normally, they can then begin the process of getting their lives back. They will each experience the deep detoxification of the New Life Detoxification step—a sauna-based detox that reaches deep into the tissue to extract old, stored drug residues. As long as these residues are lodged in the body, they can affect one’s thinking and mood. As these toxins are washed away, it is very common for a Narconon client to talk about how much more energy they have and how their cravings are now manageable. Some people even say their physical cravings are gone. With cravings gone or under control, life after rehab does not have to be a minute-by-minute struggle to stay sober.
Alleviating Suffering
One thing an addicted person knows about all too well is suffering. He (or she) suffers guilt for all the harm he has done to himself, his family and his community. He has usually lost everything of value by the time he gets to rehab, including his home, career, and self-respect. He has probably been ill or injured and may have been at death’s door due to one or more overdoses. The next step in the Narconon program helps bring a person out of the pain and trauma of the past and back to the present. This step is called objectives.
This is where a person gradually recovers his perception of the real world, which he can do with gentle guidance, now that he is in a safe place. Day by day, the present becomes more positive and fresh. His perceptions, once muddy and dim, brighten. He regains control of his actions and even his thoughts. Once again, he is in charge of his life, not his addiction.
Restoring Life Skills
Each person’s final phase of recovery includes three courses of study and application to restore the essential life skills needed for sobriety. These three steps involve the following skills:
- Knowing how to choose associates who will support one’s sobriety
- Gaining the skill of successfully handling those who would undermine one’s positive new lifestyle
- Understanding how one’s personal integrity is lost and how one can recover it
- Having specific and effective tools for rebuilding relationships and resolving problems
As these tools are learned, they are also put to use to help each person begin creating a new, sober future. Guided by Narconon staff, each person plans his re-entry to his normal life, using everything he has learned. When the student has shown that he knows how to use his new life skills, he is a graduate.
The Fifty—Year History of Narconon
For more than 50 years, the Narconon program has offered a fresh, new hope to tens of thousands of people. Without the use of substitute drugs (other than those in a required medical detox prior to starting the Narconon program), using nutritional supplements, detoxification, and life skills training, these graduates have gained an understanding of managing a sober life—skills they may never have had—even before they began using drugs.
In Egypt or anywhere in the world, contact Narconon International for more information on Narconon Egypt. We are looking forward to helping you or a loved one discover a bright new world without drugs.
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