Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
Three million cases of drug addiction have been recorded this year in Algeria. An alarming figure which demonstrates the dangerous progression of the scourge, threatening the whole of society. Mental health specialists, community stakeholders and security officials sounded the alarm the day before yesterday, during a meeting organized at the DK News forum in Algiers, calling for urgently strengthening the fight against a phenomenon that has become seriously worrying.
In his speech, Abdelkrim Abidat, international consultant expert in prevention and fight against drugs and president of the National Youth Protection Organization (ONSJ), affirmed that “the phenomenon of drugs and drug addiction in Algeria has taken on a very worrying scale. It is essential to talk about it to prevent young people and protect the future. It is a public health duty, but also a necessity to avoid the dangers that threaten our society.”
The specialist stressed that “the seriousness of the situation has reached a high level, especially for a country like Algeria, where 70% of the population are young people. We can easily imagine the catastrophe if this scourge were to spread further, particularly with the expansion of the wilayas. It’s scary.” Regarding the number of users, Mr. Abidat said that “we have gone from 600,000 cases to 3 million drug addicts, most of whom are between 15 and 30 years old, 3% of whom are girls. Drug addiction does not affect a specific social class but appears among adolescents, workers, executives, intellectuals, students, rural and city dwellers. »
The manager explained that this situation results from a set of factors, namely strong demographic growth, parental disengagement, cramped housing, social exclusion, school dropout, which excludes nearly 500 young people each year, unemployment, the absence of cultural activities and wandering. The total lack of guidance and support thus plunges an entire generation into a feeling of uselessness and anxiety, gradually pushing them onto the streets.
Abidat made it clear that all these factors accumulate, forming a snowball effect which leads to other worrying phenomena, the increase in criminal acts committed by young people, the increase in deaths by overdose and even the overloading of prisons.
He further recalled that “Algeria has always pursued policies for the prevention and repression of drug trafficking. But this problem is an international drama. Drugs now occupy the second place in the world economy, with more than 500 billion dollars in annual revenue.
“With the help of the State, which allocated us a 2,000 m² plot of land, we created the first model drug treatment center. Inaugurated in 2020 in the Bouchaoui forest, in Algiers, it has become a national reference. Today it welcomes nearly 1,000 young people from all over the country for treatment and reintegration,” he said. In partnership with the National Gendarmerie and the National Security, the center will launch a vast awareness-raising operation throughout the year in 2026.
The same speaker revealed that “we will also be the first country to launch a traveling awareness caravan, called the “Psycho-bus”, which will travel through all the streets of Algiers. This project will allow psychologists to work directly in the field, with young people and the most vulnerable communities.”
For her part, Khadija Bessedik, chief physician of the adult psychiatry department at Frantz-Fanon hospital, “young people who take refuge in drugs are often unaware that the products they consume do not even contain the main substance. These substances are mixed with other particles that can seriously damage their health.”
The specialist also pointed out the danger of social networks, which strongly influence young people and children. “The broadcast of certain videos popularizes and conveys, in complete freedom, the names of all types of drugs,” she lamented. Added to this is the lack of communication and parental absence, which accentuates family dissociation. Commander Zaïda Benaïssa underlined the key role of the National Gendarmerie in prevention on a national scale, with campaigns now present even in schools. He insisted on the importance of citizen involvement, facilitated in particular by the toll-free number 1055 to contact services.
Furthermore, Salah Boumediene, representative of the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), recalled that the first mission of his institution is the protection of the citizen. He stressed that this scourge does not only affect certain people or certain neighborhoods, it concerns the entire country. To overcome this phenomenon, responsibility must be shared by everyone,” he insisted.
Regarding statistics, Mr. Boumediene indicated that more than 25 million psychotropic tablets (Pregabalin) were seized last year. For the year 2025, the figures remain just as alarming, with nearly 16 million tablets intercepted. These criminal acts directly threaten the safety and health of society. “It is therefore imperative to break the silence and report any close friend or relative involved in this trafficking,” he stressed.