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Posted on 11/09/2003 3:06:10 PM PST by Pan_Yans Wife
Iranian Officials Ignore Ecstacy Abuse
August 18, 2003 Radio Free Europe Bill Samii
It is difficult for some people to imagine the extent of drug abuse in Iran, an Islamic theocracy. Yet on 21 July an official in Iran's Drug Control Headquarters, Mohammad Hussein Khademi, said almost 3 million people out of a total population of about 67 million have addiction problems, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on 27 July.
And on 12 August Mohsen Vazirian, an official with the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, described the distribution of free syringes to Tehran drug addicts in order to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and other contagious diseases, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported.
Sharing a border with Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, means that narcotics will always be available in Iran. Iranian officials, after a period of denial, have faced up to the problem posed by narcotics and are addressing the issue to the best of their ability through a combination of supply intervention and demand reduction. But now they face a new problem, synthetic drugs, and the official practice of denial has resumed.
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
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