Half a Million Of Moroccan Children Smoke, Report
By Samira Arabi
Morocco News Tribune
Agadir, Morocco | A report issued by the Moroccan Ministry of Health revealed that 15% of students whose average age is 14 are facing health problems due to smoking, according to the Arabic wesbite Alarabiya.
The same source said the percentage of drug and alcohol consumption reached 8% among males and 4% among females, according to a study presented recently Najat Belarbi, director of the Center for Strategic Research.
Belarbi explained that a high portion of those who pursue their education at universities smoke and use drugs, and the number of youngsters who suffer from psychological and neurological diseases exceeded 14%, added the Alarabiya.
The Moroccan Association for the fight against smoking and drugs revealed in the last study that 13% of smokers in Morocco are under 15 years of age , which is about half a million of children in Morocco.
The association showed that about 48% of young people between 15 and 19 years old smoke, which is about one and a half million young men, while figures show that 36% of those over 20 years old are smokers.
Moroccan specialists attribute the high rates of drug abuse among youth and adolescents to the inadequacy of the laws and legislation in force with the sophisticated trafficking methods of narcotics among students.
In this context, a study released two years ago showed that 63% of smokers are victims of the pressures from their family situations, but they are aware of the health risks caused by smoking.
The latest statistics indicate that the national consumption of cigarettes amounted to 16.2 billion cigarettes in 2010, of which 14.65 billion in the market and the rest by smuggling, which constitutes 10% of the market.
