“Unifying ranks to eradicate the scourge.” An integrated Emirati system to vaccinate youth and protect society from drugs

The United Arab Emirates is moving rapidly within its National Anti-Drug Strategy 2024-2031, which was adopted in November 2024, towards achieving its ambitious vision of achieving a drug-free country by 2031.

This comprehensive strategy seeks to achieve national goals that contribute to reducing death rates resulting from drug use per million people, and reducing the percentage of drug users per 100,000 people, through a package of national programs and initiatives that focus on developing community immunity, enhancing drug detection research, supporting at-risk groups, attracting and developing treatment and rehabilitation centers that enhance the quality of life and support job integration mechanisms to reduce the return to drug abuse, in addition to controlling and deterring traffickers and promoters, and active participation in the international fight against drug crimes.

In the context of this comprehensive strategic vision aimed at protecting society and preserving its national gains, especially the youth, the National Anti-Drug Campaign continues its efforts under the slogan “Uniting ranks to eradicate the scourge,” which is implemented by the National Anti-Narcotics Agency in cooperation with the UAE Government Media Office, to highlight the paramount importance of all segments of society coming together to protect children from being targeted by this devastating scourge for their future, especially in light of the emergence of modern challenges and risks that go beyond the harms of traditional smoking.

In recent years, the phenomenon of exploiting electronic cigarettes (vaping) has emerged as a hidden gateway to the infiltration of addiction and the promotion of narcotic substances and psychotropic substances, as promoters have devised malicious methods to pass these toxins, such as filling electronic cigarettes with cannabis oil, taking advantage of the difficulty of discovering or noticing them by families, educational institutions and regulatory authorities. The category of youth and adolescents is considered the most vulnerable to these risks, taking advantage of the curiosity and love of experimentation that characterizes adolescence, influence by friends, and weak awareness of health and legal risks. In addition, they fall into the trap of misleading and seductive marketing campaigns launched by tobacco manufacturers through social media platforms, which falsely promote electronic cigarettes as a less dangerous alternative to smoking.

In the face of these cunning methods, the security and competent authorities in the country intensified their determined efforts to pursue dealers in society, which resulted in the arrest of many of them. The National Drug Control Agency is making exceptional efforts, in high coordination with all competent authorities locally and regionally, to arrest the dealers of these cigarettes packed with narcotic substances, and limit the activity of criminal networks, in parallel with the intensification of awareness campaigns to warn of the danger of these methods.

On the health front, the Ministry of Health and Community Protection and health authorities in the country continue to issue strict warnings against young people’s addiction to smoking electronic cigarettes, stressing that they are no less dangerous than traditional cigarettes in the absence of any scientific evidence proving the contrary.

Health authorities explained that users of these devices often obtain doses of nicotine that exceed those found in combustible tobacco products, and that added flavorings contribute to increasing the severity of addiction. Recent studies support these warnings, as they indicate that the use of e-cigarettes triples the likelihood of non-smoking young people switching to traditional cigarettes, in addition to causing serious diseases that affect the heart and respiratory system.

In parallel with official efforts, the fundamental importance of community and family efforts to form a culture that rejects smoking in all its forms, to ensure that it does not become a gateway to the world of drugs, is crystallized. Health and media agencies are working to prepare effective awareness content, and organize workshops and lectures in cooperation with educational and community institutions that encourage the implementation of periodic educational campaigns. The state also provides specialized clinics that provide integrated programs to support smoking cessation, including medical consultations, auxiliary medications, and social support groups, while refuting misconceptions and clarifying the negative effects. Long range.

The UAE culminates in this integrated system by continuing to play its leading role globally, based on its being one of the first countries to join the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In confronting this scourge, the country relies on qualitative policies and procedures, modern technologies, and an elite group of national cadres qualified to deal with all risks.

Close cooperation between health, security and educational authorities remains an urgent necessity to monitor the phenomenon and limit its spread, with full emphasis on the fact that the family represents the first line of defence, which requires parents and teachers to raise their level of awareness, enhance positive communication with children, listen to them to build their confidence and responsibility towards themselves and their country, and take the initiative to immediately report any suspicious practices of promoters in cooperation with the competent authorities, in order to preserve the security and stability of society.