8 September 2023 

Amman, Jordan – The beds are full at the National Centre for the Rehabilitation of Addicts (NCRA), one of only two public addiction rehabilitation facilities in Jordan.

In the midst of the busy centre, Ahmad*, 34, takes a breath in the facility’s garden. The young man is on his eighth day of treatment for addiction to crystal methamphetamine.

Cases of crystal meth abuse are rising throughout Jordan – according to doctors and scientists, the drug is even more addictive and dangerous than the now widely-available and also highly-addictive amphetamine, captagon.

“On crystal [meth], I felt I was a different person,” he told Al Jazeera, glancing down at the tattoo sleeves that envelop his arms, his brothers’ names inscribed around each bicep. “I love my siblings so much. My brothers are the ones closest to me,” he said, “But on crystal [meth] I started getting paranoid around them, and starting fights. I hit one of them.”

The powerful stimulant can severely affect the brain’s structure and function, often radically changing one’s behaviours and emotions. Heavy users are often more easily paranoid, aggressive and violent.

“I lost my job, my home, and my family’s trust in me,” Ahmad said.

Raed Bader, the head of the rehab facility, estimates that approximately three patients are admitted daily into the facility for abusing crystal meth, often done in combination with other drugs, notably captagon, cocaine and hashish. And hundreds more arrive at the facility each month who test positive for meth, but choose not to stay, Bader told Al Jazeera, adding that there were 400 positive narcotics tests in July alone.

“We are trying to raise awareness, but the numbers [of drug users] keep increasing,” Bader said.

Other doctors also confirmed to Al Jazeera the rise in crystal meth abuse among their patients. Tamer al-Masri, a doctor who provides home treatment to those struggling with addiction, said that over half of his current patients are abusing crystal meth, compared with just 15 to 20 percent before 2021.

The drug has spread like wildfire throughout Iraq – a dangerous warning for Jordan, which like its neighbour, also suffers from rampant unemployment that creates an ideal climate for drug abuse to thrive.