by Lisa Frederiksen
I share the following excerpt from an article by Simona Sikimic, titled, “Alcoholic Anonymous Takes Root in Lebanon, Attracts Clients From Across the Region,” appearing August 6, 2010, online, at The Daily Star, Lebanon, to remind us all that addiction is worldwide. It knows no boundaries. There is no “typical” alcoholic or addict.
But addiction, to both alcohol and drugs, is a growing problem in Lebanon and the Middle East alike. It is eating away at the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and is indiscriminate of age, sex or religious belief.
The number of alcoholics is known to be rising, especially among young women, while the number of drug addicts in Lebanon alone is estimated to be somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000. Even staunchly conservative Saudi Arabia has not escaped this trend and has one of the world’s worst amphetamine problems with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealing that almost half of the world’s illegal-pharmaceutical amphetamine seizures take place in the kingdom.
“The program is big in Saudi Arabia, too big! There are chapters in nearly every city,” said Said, a recovering Saudi addict who visited AA Lebanon for the first time in July. “There is every kind of drug there. It is just more underground but just as destructive. I didn’t know there was a meeting in Lebanon but I’m grateful to be here at the fellowship and that the meetings happen in Arabic.”
While numbers across the region may be rising, understanding and acceptance of the problem remain low and treatment options are limited. Close family ties often mean that an alcoholic or addict will be sheltered from the worst of their problem by their relatives, claims Bob.
I encourage you to read the article in its entirety – Alcoholic Anonymous Takes Root in Lebanon, Attracts Clients From Across the Region.
