­“All people consume cannabis,” says Samaka – which means ‘fish’ – a 27-year-old dealer in Cairo.

According to a 2010 study by Mansoura University Emergency Hospital, nearly 30% of all substance abuse in the urine of patients at the hospital was found to be cannabis consumption. After the 2011 Revolution, security suffered yet drug trafficking flourished, cannabis in particular.

­“All people consume cannabis,” says Samaka – which means ‘fish’ – a 27-year-old dealer in Cairo.

According to a 2010 study by Mansoura University Emergency Hospital, nearly 30% of all substance abuse in the urine of patients at the hospital was found to be cannabis consumption. After the 2011 Revolution, security suffered yet drug trafficking flourished, cannabis in particular.

Despite the soft calls for legalization, the authorities have intensified the penalties for drug procurement and trafficking from 10 to 15 and now 25-year sentences. The death penalty can even be applied in some cases. Dealers like Samaka say the market is too broad and profitable to introduce any deterrents that would make traffickers abandon the business.

Police pushing

In some cases, senior police officers have been accused of supplying drugs to major gangs. Last May, the public prosecution’s office proved that 27 officers, including major-generals, had been involved in supplying the well-known ‘Dakash and Koria’ narcotics-dealing gang with confidential information relating to the police forces’ mobilization and investigations against the gang’s strongholds.

Consumption is relatively tolerated among a considerable proportion of Egyptians, unlike other countries in the region such as Tunisia and Lebanon, where many sections of society are more conservative. Cannabis continues to remain illegal however, while medical reports signal alarming levels of addiction.

“Cannabis is not addiction,” says Wael S, a 31-year-old engineer, who nevertheless says he resorts to it for many, if not most, situations. Before sexual intercourse with his wife, cannabis helps him. When going out with friends, cannabis gives him excitement. When traveling long distances, cannabis consoles him. Although the price of cannabis, like everything else, has recently increased, Wael still considers it reasonable and less costly than other pleasures.

“Being high is an illusion”

While it may be difficult to find a wedding festivity without cannabis or a party without the smell of hashish, there are people who doubt the reality of the feeling it incites. “Being high is an illusion,” says Sumaiya B, a 29-year-old accountant, summarizing her experience with cannabis: seven years of consumption and one year of treatment. She quit three years ago.

“Cannabis quickly finds its way to those with shaky confidence and gives it to them,” Sumaiya B told Correspondents. During her early university months, she was afraid of the capital after moving from Suez Governorate. After the first joints in the girls’ restroom, the fear dissipitated however. It soon became a habit and when she thought of quitting, she realized that “entering a bathroom is not like leaving it.” When she did quit, she says she felt she had been paying with her money and health in exchange for nothing. Her health is now much better, she says, and her concentration has improved too.

“Love is blind”

Dr. Ahmed Abdullatif, a consultant of psychological and neurological diseases and addiction treatment, says the mind of an addict plays a psychological trick to deny being addicted. Abdullatif explains the idea by dividing addiction into two types: physiological (or chemical) and psychological (or habit). In the first type, a body receives materials from the outside similar to those it secretes from the inside to incite happiness and pleasure and alleviate pain, yet in higher doses.

With continuous consumption over long periods, the body stops secretion as a natural reaction. This type is the most dangerous. It happens to people addicted to chemical and synthetic drugs, such as heroin. The other type is psychological habit; the body does not stop secretion completely but only reduces the quantity. This happens in the case of natural drugs, such as derivatives of Indian hemp, explains Abdullatif.

Despite such warnings, the love affair between Egyptians and cannabis continues. “Love is blind,” concludes Abdullatif.