Official: Number of female alcohol, drug addicts on rise in UAE

The number of women addicted to alcohol and drugs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on the rise, a top official at Dubai Police said citing social changes in the country.

Colonel Abdullah Matar Al-Khayat, manager of Hemaya International Centre at Dubai Police, said the majority of cases were girls who had travelled abroad with their friends without parental supervision.

Colonel Al-Khayat explained that with the rapid spread of the Internet, alcohol and drugs are now sold online.

Meanwhile, the Director of Community Research, Awareness and Public Relations of Erada Centre in Dubai, Abdullah Al Ansari, said an alcoholic girl who had been treated at the centre said she used to purchase alcohol online and it would be delivered to her doorstep.

He noted that drug dealers and traffickers usually target girls who are 18 to 35 years old, warning that some addicts have already died of overdoses.

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