5% increase in drug addiction in Iran
The Secretary General of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Headquarters reports a five percent increase in drug addiction in the country and says that 3,000 people die annually from drug use. He has called on NGOs to help the government solve the problem.
Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni, Secretary General of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Headquarters, says that 70 percent of the country's prisoners have been arrested for drug-related offenses and that measures must be taken in this regard. On the sidelines of a visit to a drug treatment center in Tabriz, he noted that 55 percent of divorces registered in the country and most robberies are also related to addiction.
Momeni called on NGOs to assist the government in the fight against drugs, adding that any innovative plan is supported and welcomed: "Because the government cannot do this alone and, in addition, take on the responsibility of providing medical services."
The news of a five percent increase in drug addiction in Iran comes at a time when the Sixth Development Plan had set a five-year outlook for a 25 percent reduction in addiction nationwide.
From opium to flowers
Opium, syrup and its derivatives are the most commonly used drugs in Iran. Saeed Sefatian, head of the “Drug Demand Reduction Working Group” in the Diagnostic Council, has announced that opium accounts for 53 percent of all types of drugs consumed. After opium and syrup, weed, marijuana and flowers are the most common drugs in Iran. According to official statistics, 67 percent of drug addicts in Iran use opium and syrup, 12 percent use weed, marijuana and flowers, 11 percent use heroin and crack, and 8 percent use glass.
Parviz Afshar, spokesman for the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters, says that about four million people in the country use drugs recreationally, continuously or addictively. The Welfare Organization, in breaking down this figure, calls 1.8 million people recreational users and the rest addicts who suffer physical and mental complications if they do not have drugs for a day. However, experts estimate that the actual number of addicts is higher than the official statistics.
The Welfare Organization has previously announced that 10 percent of the country's addicts are women. Rasoul Khezri, a member of the parliament's social commission, also admitted that 80 percent of students involved in addiction have tried drugs during their student years.
Addiction: The Mother of Social Harms
The Anti-Narcotics Headquarters says that more than 22 percent of Iranian workers use drugs, and drug use is higher than the national average in provinces with greater economic and social problems. According to Hamid Reza Sarami, director general of the headquarters' research and education office, 7,500 addicted babies are born in Iran every year.
Poverty and social unrest, the lack of "a sense of satisfaction and contentment," especially among young people, and easy access to drugs are cited as reasons for the spread of addiction in Iran.
The increase in drug use in Iran reflects the government's inability to address the root cause of the problem and the failure of crackdowns and criminal plans. Until 2017, before the drug trafficking law was changed, nearly 70 percent of executions in Iran were related to drug crimes.
In addition to poverty and social unrest, the lack of "a sense of satisfaction and contentment," especially among young people, and easy access to drugs are cited as reasons for the spread of addiction in Iran.
Source: DW
