IRAN’S MAJOR DRUGS PROBLEM

Opium from nearby Afghanistan drives most of demand

Country’s population of addicts doubles to 2.8 million in six years, largely due to supply of Afghan opiates,

TEHRAN // The number of drug addicts in Iran has more than doubled in six years, with opium the country’s most popular narcotic.

“There are about 2.8 million people regularly consuming drugs” in the country of 80 million people, said Parviz Afshar, a spokesman for the drug control organisation.

Citing experts from the health ministry, Iran’s welfare organisation and his own agency, Mr Afshar said the number of drug users had risen from 1.3 million six years ago. He said opium made up 67 per cent of drugs used, with marijuana and its derivatives accounting for 12 per cent, and methamphetamines about 8 per cent.

“Opium is still the most popular drug and methamphetamine use has dropped significantly,” said Mr Afshar.

Afghanistan, Iran’s neighbour, produces about 90 per cent of the world’s opium, which is extracted from poppy resin and refined to make heroin.

Iran is a major transit point for Afghan-produced opiates heading to Europe and beyond.

Opium production surged significantly after the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and overthrew the ruling Taliban.

By its last year in power, the Taliban had slashed opium output to just 185 tonnes a year, according to United Nations estimates.

But the UN says Afghan production has since shot up to between 4,800 and 6,000 tonnes last year. Last year’s bumper crop, bolstered by better weather, pushed world opium output up by a third from 2015 and helped to fund an intensifying Taliban insurgency.

That is despite a decade of international efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and billions of dollars spent on persuading Afghan farmers to grow other crops. The UN’s crime and drugs agency said on Thursday that the global narcotics market was thriving, with opiates causing tens of thousands of avoidable deaths a year.