Amman launches awareness campaign to tackle festive firing, drug use

AMMAN — Amman Governor Saad Shehab on Tuesday launched an awareness campaign to reduce festive firings and combat drugs.

During the launch ceremony, attended by various official and youth representatives in the capital, Shehab said that Jordanian society is solid and alert, but there are some phenomena that undermine its unity, such as festive firings and drugs, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The governor added that the festive firing phenomenon has become a security, social and psychological burden, and everyone has a responsibility to help stop it.

He added that people also have to join efforts against those who sell illegal drugs.

All possible efforts have to be exerted to combat drugs, which have penetrated the minds of addicts and become a societal threat, he stressed, referring to their effect on individuals and families.

Former social development minister Khawla Armouti called for a collective framework and joint action to address these two issues.

Amman Security Chief Brig. Gen. Khalid Ajrami said that festive firings did not just suddenly emerge and are associated with old social customs.

The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with a number of other ministries and national institutions on Tuesday, also launched an awareness campaign on the health and social risks of drugs and their threat to social peace and security.

Anti-Narcotics Department Director Brig. Gen. Anwar Tarawneh said that the department’s goal, which can be achieved in cooperation with society as a whole, is to have a society that refuses drugs by having every sector perform its role.

In interviews with The Jordan Times, security experts on Sunday called for drafting a national strategy to combat the use of illicit drugs and illegal use of weapons, including during festive events, citing a danger to public safety and stability.

The experts also called for an awareness campaign using the media, school curricula and other clubs and local communities’ activities to explore the dangers of drug abuse and “unnecessary” use of weapons.

Meanwhile, Public Security Department (PSD) personnel in Ramtha have managed to identify four people who had taken part in festive firing in the district recently, according to Petra. 

The PSD spokesperson on Tuesday said that the Ramtha PSD received a complaint about a festive firing, and an investigation team used a video of the incident to identify the suspects. The suspects later handed themselves in to authorities.