The Department of Enrollment Services and Student Affairs at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) organized a workshop aiming to raise awareness of the types of narcotics and various psychotropic substances, their hazards, and ways to avoid falling into the addiction trap, as well as healthy mechanisms for coping with stressors, where the speakers urged students to seek help, when needed, from the right parties, instead of attempting an escape from reality by means of taking drugs. AUIB’s American Space hosted the workshop that featured presentations by Mr. Baraa Najeeb Al-Hadithi of the Iraqi Hight Commission for Human Rights and Brigadier General Ziyad Al-Saadi of the Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs at the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.
The temptation to take drugs, especially for youngsters, often arises from a desire to escape reality, compounded by a feeling of low self-esteem exacerbated by the portrayal of celebrities in media, said AUIB’s Vice President for Enrollment Services and Student Affairs, Dr. James Pounder, in his opening remarks. Dr. Pounder saw that the pressure by media, including social media, on young men in particular is pushing increasingly many to exercise bodybuilding while taking steroids and Human Growth Hormones, “to look like Mr. Universe or Mr. Olympia,” pointing out the serious health hazards and defects caused by the consumption of these substances, considering the latter as addictive and damaging as psychotropic substances. “A perfectly good life is possible through the development of character” and a healthy, active lifestyle, affirmed Dr. Pounder, highlighting the availability of counsel for students at AUIB to help them with any difficulties they are struggling with, in addition to the availability of outlets such as sports facilities and various student activities.
“Poverty and unemployment constitute the environment conducive to (the proliferation of) drugs;” therefore, this phenomenon is less noticeable “in stable, industrial countries,” pointed out Mr. Al-Hadithi, stressing that “education and empowerment drive (the phenomenon of) drugs away,” and drawing attention to the fact that drug-related crimes are strongly correlated with the methodological and serial crimes of arms trafficking and human trafficking committed by organized crime.
Brigadier General Al-Saadi gave a presentation on the types of psychotropic substances and the hazards of each of them, accentuating that “the artificial ones (chemically produces pills) are the most dangerous,” and that the demand for these is the highest. BG Al-Saadi elaborated on the role bad company plays in pushing victims to the addiction trap, highlighting the importance of sound family relationships and traditional or healthy social bonds in safeguarding individuals. The high-ranking officer also highlighted the Ministry of Interior’s program for the rehabilitation of drug victims, commending the program’s success in ridding over two thousand young man and woman of addiction and enabling them to go back to normalcy by teaching them various professions and encouraging them to read, providing them with a dedicated library.