IN SAUDI ARABIA, ADDICTS ARE TREATED BUT DEALERS ARE EXECUTED

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia - The sword falls swiftly on a drug dealer's neck in
the kingdom of the Sauds.

There is nothing secret or ambiguous about the policy. Even before visitors
land on Saudi soil, entry forms state in red letters in English and Arabic
that trafficking in drugs is punished by death. Thirty-five convicted drug
traffickers were executed in 2000, beheaded in public squares.

The government says the harsh punishment and the kingdom's relative
isolation from drug sources make drug addiction less severe than in
countries like Iran or Pakistan.

But it is a serious enough problem that the rulers have begun -- albeit on
a small scale -- to deal with it in a very un-Saudi way: openly. And while
the government treats drug trafficking as criminal activity, it has begun
to regard drug, alcohol and nicotine dependence as treatable illnesses.

`We are very concerned'

One reason it has become a problem is that although an estimated 65 percent
of Saudi Arabia's population is under the age of 25, this is a place that
bans movie theaters, concert halls, discotheques and dating. Sports
activities, particularly for women, are limited. Without a choice of
healthy diversions for young people, drugs have increasingly become a
source of entertainment and escape.

``We don't think that the drug problem in our country can be described as a
phenomenon,'' said Dr. Suhail al-Banna, director of Al-Amal Hospital in
Jidda. ``But whatever you call it, we are very concerned about it and are
dealing with it.''

The government provides no statistics on drug consumption, interdiction and
trafficking, but according to the U.S. State Department's annual global
drug report, anecdotal evidence ``suggests that Saudi Arabia's relatively
affluent population, large numbers of unemployed youth, and the high profit
margins on narcotics smuggled to Saudi Arabia make the country an
attractive target for drug traffickers and dealers.''

Al-Amal, whose name means ``hope,'' is one of four drug treatment centers
in a country of 21 million people, about 15 million of them Saudis.
Patients are offered group therapy, dental treatment, X-rays, sonograms,
massages, physical therapy and biofeedback.

They can swim, play pool and pingpong, read in the library, work out in the
fitness center and walk in the garden, where a caged roof prevents escape.

During detoxification, each patient is given a private room and bath, a
prayer rug and a copy of the Koran. Like all observant Muslim men, patients
pray five times a day.

Art illustrates attitudes

Three paintings by an ex-addict that hang in a craft room illustrate the
Saudi approach to the problem: Drugs lead to crime, which leads to death.

In the first painting, a young man is seen experimenting with cigarettes, a
water pipe, alcohol, sleeping pills, hashish and heroin.

``Don't kill yourself, because God is merciful,'' the artist wrote. ``But
whoever does these things is sinning and bears the consequences.''

In the second painting, drugs and alcohol have driven the addict to
adultery, rape and murder. In the final painting, the addict is
blindfolded, his hands tied behind his back, his body covered in blood.

Above him hangs a large curved sword. ``We have not killed you,'' the
artist wrote. ``You have killed yourself.''

In terms of treatment, the hospital confronts the problem head on.

A psychodrama program, for example, simulates the drug environment. The
floor of the treatment room is covered with the paraphernalia and
accouterments of dependence: an empty bottle of Scotch, hypodermic needles,
cigarette butts, plastic takeout containers, a hashish pipe, a magazine
with photographs of women and a deck of cards.

``We show how low an addict can get,'' said a Sudanese
psychologist-in-training. ``We try to stimulate the craving, which gets
greater and greater, and then we deal with the anxiety that results. We
reduce the craving gradually with relaxation techniques similar to
biofeedback. We use all international standards.''

Women often ignored

The hospital serves more than 200 male Saudi patients. Expatriates are
jailed and then deported. There is no drug facility for women. ``Females
don't usually have such problems,'' said Dr. Ossama T. Osman, the
hospital's medical director, who studied medicine in Illinois and spent
three years at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.

Not true, said a female psychiatrist who works at a mental hospital in the
kingdom.

``There are many women with alcohol and drug dependencies,'' she said.
``And women, especially women who are confined to the home, suffer from
depression, and often self-medicate. They come to us, but there's not much
we can do for them. We can keep them for a day or two and then they leave.
It's not something this society wants to face.''

Drugs are smuggled into the country either by air or sea by pilgrims going
to Mecca or by other travelers, who sometimes use children as carriers.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Turkey are the main sources. Heroin and
hashish are the most commonly used drugs, but cocaine is available and some
young people sniff acetone, glue and paint. Alcohol is banned, but
available, and most prescription drugs, including sleeping pills,
amphetamines and anti-depressants, can be bought over the counter without
prescriptions.