(MENAFN- Jordan Times) Jordan on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to combating drug trafficking and abuse both locally and internationally.
"Illegal narcotics remain one of the major challenges that threaten our society and young people in general," Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) Director Col. Muhannad Attar said at an event to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, observed on June 26.
The war on drugs, he said, "is a war of survival or destruction".
"We realise the dangers of illicit drugs and that is why we are using all means, from raising awareness and combating drug trafficking to focusing on international cooperation with other countries, to combat this dangerous international phenomenon," Attar told the audience.
According to the AND, the Public Security Department dealt with 4,015 drug-related cases last year, including 475 cases of trafficking and 3,540 cases related to possession and use.
These crimes involved 6,447 people, including both Jordanians and foreigners, of whom 1,333 were involved in trafficking and 5,114 in possession and use.
In a statement sent to The Jordan Times on the occasion, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that organised crime and illicit drugs were impeding the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Globally, some 200,000 people die each year from using heroin, cocaine and other drugs, the statement said, while the number of problem drug users - mainly with heroin and cocaine dependencies - stands at 27 million or one in every 200 people.
Some 230 million people, or about 5 per cent of the world's adult population, are estimated to have used an illicit drug in 2010, the UNODC said.
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