UAE | General
Iranian addicts use 700 tonnes of drugs every year
While Iran ranks first for opium seizures in the world, some 700 tonnes of narcotics are annually consumed by more than 2 million Iranian addicts.
- By A Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 July 7, 2002
While Iran ranks first for opium seizures in the world, some 700 tonnes of narcotics are annually consumed by more than 2 million Iranian addicts.
Growing drug abuse among youth continues to be a serious social stigma facing the nation.
Akbar Ejraei, the head of Health and Treatment Depart-ment told Gulf News that average age of most of addicts is between 20-30 years, of whom 69 per cent consume opium while 26 per cent consume heroine and the rest use other kinds of drugs.
Mohammed Fallah, the Head of Anti-Narcotic Centre had said that there are no exact statistics available showing the number of addicts and drug abusers in Iran. However Mohammed Reza Rah Chamani, head of Welfare Organisation told Gulf News that there are about two million people abusing drugs, of whom 800,000 are occasional users.
Addiction is the root of many other social maladies including AIDS, hepatitis and 60 per cent of the inmates are incarcerated on drug charges.
The increasing consumption of heroine, in particular by injection, is fanning the flames of killer AIDS. Some 3400 people are suffering from HIV virus in Iran. Exact number is not available as these people try not to be identified as AIDS patients.
The Welfare Organisation estimates that 82.5 per cent of the AIDS patients have contracted the disease through blood-related transmissions, of which 64 per cent are intravenous addicts. Of the latter, 88 per cent are men and 12 per cent women.
The root cause of all of these social problems is some 2000 tonnes of narcotics that are traded via Iran every year of which only 25 per cent are seized by anti-drug forces.
The high rate of unemployment among youth also adds fuel to the fire of narcotic smuggling and its consumption especially in more poverty-stricken areas close to Iran's eastern borders.
Each year, more than one million young job-seekers enter Iran's market of whom the government is able to provide only 450,000 job opportunities.
Experts suggest that curbs on demand and supply of drugs is the best solution in combating this menace. Considering the country's location that sits on the crossroads of the international drug trade, the total elimination of supply is impossible and all the resources cannot be diverted to that direction, however, reducing demand is considered as the most effective solution to combating the drug trafficking.
Anti drug forces have also set up five new border regiments and beefed up border police station to strengthen security and combat drug smuggling in the eastern region.
The police commander in Sistan-Baluchestan province Brig-Gen Hamid Reza Radan said that sealing off the eastern borders have been effective in combating drug trafficking, adding that government is in the process of enforcing the plan."
Earlier in June, commander of police Brig-Gen Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf said current facilities are not adequate for the tough task police are expected to perform.
Addressing a press conference, the police chief added that the police force is in dire need of more police stations for security purpose, more highway patrol check points for maintaining road safety, more technical facilities for performing its duties in urban areas, and higher standards of living for its personnel.
Anti-drug campaigns inflict $800 million each year. More than 3,100 policemen have been killed since the revolution in 1979.
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