Rabat- King Mohammed VI inaugurated Thursday a new center for addiction treatment in Sidi Moumen suburb in Casablanca, initiated by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity under the supervision of the sovereign.
As part of the 2010 national program to fight drug addiction and its effects, implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of the Interior, the new center’s budget is MAD 6.4 million. It contains a sport area, psychotherapy and social support facilities, and spaces for computer science and artistic workshops to encourage self-expression.
Another space within the center was also dedicated to training associations that support youth suffering from addictions.
The initiative seeks to rehabilitate individuals with drug issues, contribute to their inclusion in social life, improve their response to treatment and raise awareness about the risks of drug abuse for both addicts and their families at the receiving end of addictive behavior.
Prior to the new center’s establishment, other drug rehab centers were built by the same foundation in Casablanca’s Ibn Rochd University Hospital, and in Rabat, Oujda, Nador, Marrakech, Tetouan, Tangiers, Fez, and Agadir.
According to a study conducted by the Biochemistry, Nutrition and Cellular Biology Group in partnership with Casablanca’s Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in 2017, Approximately 600,000 Moroccans are addicted to drugs, with 16,000 addicted to hard drugs like heroin and cocaine. Drug addiction is especially prevalent among 18 to 28-year-olds.
The other most common addiction is to alcohol, according to a report by the National Observatory of Drugs and Addictions (ONDA). The same source revealed that Moroccans consume approximately 120 million liters of alcoholic beverages a year, 68.3 percent of which is beer.
