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130,000 Iranians become drug addicts each year
Source: Agencies |
November 16, 2009, Monday
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ABOUT 130,000 people in Iran become addicted to drugs each year, the Iranian police chief said yesterday, acknowledging the scale of the problem for a country on a key heroin trafficking route.
Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, who is also head of Iran's anti-narcotics agency, said some 930,000 people in the country of 70 million were addicted to heroin and opium, a figure rising to 1 million if other drugs are included, he told Hambastegi newspaper.
Iran is a key transit route for narcotics smuggled from neighboring Afghanistan, which produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium, to the West and elsewhere.
Iran's eastern border areas are known for frequent clashes between security forces and well-armed drug traffickers. Addicts are often seen on the streets of Tehran and elsewhere.
Last month, a United Nations report said Afghanistan-grown poppies fuel a US$65 billion heroin and opium market that feeds 15 million addicts, with Europe, Russia and Iran consuming half the supply.
"Based on our estimate, an average of 130,000 new people enter the drug addiction circle annually on a permanent or temporary basis," Ahmadi-Moghaddam was quoted as saying.
He also estimated that about 500,000 people had been treated and rehabilitated over a six-year period.
The Iranian judiciary is stepping up its fight against the drugs trade but a large part of the "narcotics mafia" is based outside the country, he added.
"These drug lords run their every day business affairs through petty drug gang members from abroad," Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, speaking at an addiction treatment conference.
More than 3,700 Iranian security personnel have been killed fighting drug smugglers since 1979.
Drug trafficking is punishable by death in Iran, which has worked hard to curb heroin smuggling through its borders.
Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, who is also head of Iran's anti-narcotics agency, said some 930,000 people in the country of 70 million were addicted to heroin and opium, a figure rising to 1 million if other drugs are included, he told Hambastegi newspaper.
Iran is a key transit route for narcotics smuggled from neighboring Afghanistan, which produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium, to the West and elsewhere.
Iran's eastern border areas are known for frequent clashes between security forces and well-armed drug traffickers. Addicts are often seen on the streets of Tehran and elsewhere.
Last month, a United Nations report said Afghanistan-grown poppies fuel a US$65 billion heroin and opium market that feeds 15 million addicts, with Europe, Russia and Iran consuming half the supply.
"Based on our estimate, an average of 130,000 new people enter the drug addiction circle annually on a permanent or temporary basis," Ahmadi-Moghaddam was quoted as saying.
He also estimated that about 500,000 people had been treated and rehabilitated over a six-year period.
The Iranian judiciary is stepping up its fight against the drugs trade but a large part of the "narcotics mafia" is based outside the country, he added.
"These drug lords run their every day business affairs through petty drug gang members from abroad," Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, speaking at an addiction treatment conference.
More than 3,700 Iranian security personnel have been killed fighting drug smugglers since 1979.
Drug trafficking is punishable by death in Iran, which has worked hard to curb heroin smuggling through its borders.
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