Some 10.4 per cent of Egyptians use illicit drugs, double the international average, the head of a drugs rehabilitation hotline setup by the country’s Fund for Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction (FDCTA) said. He pointed out that the problem in Egypt is substance abuse rather than addiction, adding that abuse is an early stage of addiction. READ: Egypt approves death penalty for drug dealersDrugs enter Egypt from South Asia, usually via sea and airports, and are then distributed across the North Africa region and into Europe. Drug trafficking in Egypt is also a core activity of transnational organised crime networks. International football player Mohammed Salah helped raise the number of Egyptians who are seeking help for drug addiction to 116,500 last year after he appeared in an advert urging people to “Say NO to drugs”.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 09, 2019 10:18 UTC