Lesser of ‘two evils’, but who would dare?

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THE recent drug bust, which led to discovery of the narcotics business of an art producer and his stock of hundreds of deadly chemical substances, warrants gratitude and appreciation for the Interior Ministry, its minister, undersecretary and the entire police force.

However, as we said in previous occasions, the international criminal statistics showed that the busted quantity, especially drugs and their derivatives, does not exceed 10 percent of the actual quantity which finds its way to the targeted country.

Reports on drugs and their derivatives fill our news on a daily basis here in Kuwait. I have no idea where the remaining 90 percent which passes under the noses of the Interior Ministry and its officers or customs inspectors go, or who consumes and poisons themselves with these dangerous substances.

Definitely, the demand for this poison will be big in the new generation, simply because an expatriate who is barely making ends meet does not think of spending his hard-earned money on this expensive product. I also believe that well-off expatriates are consuming it. Hence, majority of the main customers are your sons and daughters, O people of Kuwait who do not even know where their children are.

Male and female youths are fascinated with what they see on television, movies and video clips uploaded on social communication websites. Just like any other youth in the world, they want to ‘get high’ and enjoy the feeling of oblivion caused by these substances which gradually make them addicted up to a point where they cannot live or even spend their free time without being ‘high’.

Furthermore, some observers say Kuwait has been the transit route for these poisonous substances, especially before the discovery of oil or the oil boom.

In the 1950s, we were the transit port for our brothers in India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran. We used to import foreign goods for them through Kuwaiti traders, such as gold for India, cigarettes and watches. In fact, we delivered everything produced by Western countries, which the aforementioned nations were deprived of — either due to laws or smartness of Kuwaiti traders and agents of these substances. Traders used to bring goods to Kuwait, repack and then re-export them; it was legal and it was done through legal channels and smuggling.

Now, Kuwait has become the center of deadly organic and chemical drugs that we poison our children with, and then we contribute in poisoning the neighbor’s children.

The solution, even though partial as per my humble perspective and something that many are saying secretly, not publicly because they lack the audacity to tackle the issue, is to allow or overlook smuggling of spirit drinks — approved by all countries — for personal consumption, just like how it happens in our neighboring countries apart from one, and at the same time, to prevent the poisonous calamity.

We know this talk will stir uproar and fuss, but we are saying it from the point of clarify based on the fact that it is the lesser of two evils — as per the global accord — apart from us and another country in the entire world.

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By Ali Ahmed Al-Baghli – Former Minister of Oil

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