Officials: Kuwait's anti-drugs decree-into-law stipulates stiff penalties

KUWAIT, Dec 11 (KUNA) -- Anti-drugs officials on Thursday warned that the new relevant decree-into law to fight the scourge stipulates stiff penalties against dealing and taking narcotics and psychotripic substances.
The officials were speaking during a seminar about the new law, due to be effective later this month; organized by Kuwait Institute for Judicial and Legal Studies. It was sponsored and attended by the Acting Prime Mnister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Saud Al-Sabah.
The participants, in the gathering on the decree-into-law 159/2025 including experts and law enforcement officials, called on addicts to seek therapy and spare themselves legal penalties and noted that reporting about cases is a national-social responsibility that may save lives and protect families.
Counselor Mohammad Al-Duaij, a counselor at at the Court of Appeal and Presient of the Law Drafting Committee, said in his speech at the seminar that the new law "is a legislative revolution in the war on narcotics and psychtropic substances stipulating utter and stiff penalties." Senior psychiatric and Director of the Addiction Treatment Center, Dr. Hussein Al-Shatti, said the new law ensures rights of the doctors and patients. Addiction, he has added, afflicts not only the patient by the entire society.
Dr. Al-Shatti has explained that the treatment center admits addicts who voluntarily seek to get treatment without penalty, while the rehabilitation center receives addicts detained by the competent authorities. Number of addicts who have sought treatment has increased after drafting the new decree-into law.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Sheikh Hamad Al-Yusuf Al-Sabah, the Assistant Director General of the Anti-Drugs Directorate General, said the new law observes employment of the "controlled delivery" technique where vehicles laden with drugs is monitored until reaching the delivery destination, used to arrest all culprits and unveil dealers' networks.
The new law stiffens the punishment against addicted criminals, where they will be penalized for double offense, the criminal act itself and usage of the narcotics.
For his part, Counselor Dr. Ahmad Al-Muqalled, the counselor at the Court of Appeal and the center deputy director general for communications, relations and researches, indicated that the new law covers the policy of criminlization and punishment, the policy of treatment and habiliation, the role played by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior and the anti-dryg department in enforcing the law at the local and regional levels.
The new decree-into-law, due to be effective as of December 15, also deals with regulating usage of drugs for medical purposes. (end) ajr.rk