KUWAIT CITY, Dec 18: Less than 48 hours after the new drug law No. 159 /2025 came into effect, the Ministry of Interior and other state agencies started witnessing its positive impact on the ground, reports Al-Rai daily. Dozens of families rushed to report their children who use drugs, seeking treatment under the provisions of the new law and aiming to avoid severe penalties. This also helps clear their children’s records and prevents them from the accumulation of criminal charges that could negatively affect their professional and social futures.

According to security sources, the Ministry of Interior is seeing immediate positive results from the awareness campaigns launched before the law’s implementation, with many citizens responding and reporting their drug-using children. The first of the extensive security campaigns conducted by the Drug Control General Department (DCGD) after December 15 targeted suspicious locations in several areas, which resulted in the arrest of 13 individuals, including dealers and traffickers. Various quantities of narcotics were also seized from suspects of different nationalities, who were referred to the Narcotics Prosecution for legal action under the new law, which carries penalties of life imprisonment or, in some cases, the death penalty.

Also, DCGD received around 30 reports from families and relatives of drug users, who provided information about their children and their whereabouts. This enabled authorities to facilitate their arrest and referral to addiction treatment centers, allowing them to receive treatment, avoid penalties, and prevent criminal cases from being filed, thereby safeguarding their future. The sources highlighted the significance of Article 61 of the new drug law, which allows drug users to voluntarily seek treatment at a hospital in complete confidentiality and without restrictions, with no prior record being registered in their file. They also highlighted Article 62, which requires the family of an addict, up to the third degree of kinship, to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding their addicted relative, after which the competent authorities will apprehend the individual and place them in an addiction treatment center for rehabilitation.