Narcotic drugs in Dubai: Lurking in the shadows

Over the last two decades, illicit drugs have emerged as a growing social problem in the Arab Gulf states. Dubai is no exception, in spite of its reputation as an economic success story. Dubai has been affected in two ways: through the increased use of hard drugs, notably heroin, especially among its nationals; and through the role of transnational organised crime in moving illegal drugs through the sovereign space of the Emirate and onwards to larger markets. In spite of this growth, the authorities have been slow to respond.

Where policy development has taken place it has emphasised the supply side, within which it has privileged law enforcement. There has been a zero tolerance approach on the demand side, which is only now beginning to soften at the edges. State provision for detoxification and rehabilitation is plainly inadequate.

Wider society is to some extent complicit in this reality, as Emirati nationals tend to frown on such ‘weaknesses’.

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