The Abu Dhabi Legal and Community Awareness Centre ("Masouliya") of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), delivered an awareness-raising lecture for government agency partners on the guiding role of the family in protecting children from drugs, entitled "The Addict is a Victim, not a Criminal", as part of the ongoing awareness campaign launched by the Centre against drug abuse with the aim of raising awareness of the dangers of substance abuse and addiction.

The campaign, which was launched in May this year over a period of six months, is conducted in implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Presidential Court and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, to consolidate the legal culture and raise awareness in society.

On the occasion of this lecture given remotely for a number of government agency employees, Counselor Dr. Mohammed Rashid Al Dhanhani, Director of the Abu Dhabi Centre for Legal and Community Awareness ("Masouliya"), reviewed the causes leading to drug and psychotropic substance abuse, explaining that they are of an individual, family and societal nature, and stressed the preventive role of parents in protecting their children from drug abuse as well as their role in treating and rehabilitating drug-addicted children.

Dr. Al Dhanhani advised parents on how to properly educate their children and how to approach and deal with each age group, explaining the dangers associated with drug abuse and the dangerous effects of addiction, listening to them and discussing with them any bad behaviour they do while avoiding anger, and guiding them to the right paths, supporting them, taking their feelings into account and following them at all times, teaching them how to refuse and leave the place in case any negative behaviour is observed.

He also emphasised the need to usefully fill children's free time with their favourite activities, to share their hobbies, to help them define and achieve their goals, to help them choose good friends and guide them towards the right behaviour with them, to teach them how to obtain information from reliable websites and to avoid falling into wrong behaviours that only bring misery and sorrow.

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