17% of Iranians Have a Desire to Use Drugs

Two days after the announcement of the 'State Drug Distribution Plan', one of the features of this plan was described as 'single-use for addicts'. Hassan Norouzi, the spokesperson for the Judicial and Legal Commission of the Parliament, announced two days ago the final approval of the proposal for state drug distribution aimed at severing the relationship between addicts and traffickers, with the agreement of all decision-making bodies. According to ISNA news agency, Saeed Safatian, head of the Addiction Demand Reduction Working Group of the Expediency Discernment Council, stated on Sunday, August 1, that 'this plan aims to reduce addiction statistics as much as possible'. Safatian referenced statistics indicating that 'research in the country shows that 17% of the population has a desire to use drugs. Of this number, 5% have moved towards drug use, and the remaining 12% will move in that direction if the connection between consumers and traffickers is not severed and there is no consumption management'. He noted that this plan has been implemented in many European countries, stating, 'In some countries, even addicts can visit specific centers after purchasing drugs if they have doubts about its purity and receive pure drugs by presenting the purchased substance'. This member of the Expediency Discernment Council mentioned the existence of 220,000 to 250,000 traffickers in the country, referring to it as a 'social harm' and added, 'The goal of the state drug distribution plan is to control a powerful economy that can accomplish great things'. He stated that currently, the number of addicts in the country is 2.8 million, adding, 'These addicts cause a loss of 50 trillion tomans to the country's economy. Of this amount, about 20 trillion tomans is the money that people pay to traffickers for purchasing drugs'. Meanwhile, the head of the Independent Anti-Drug Committee considered the 'State Drug Distribution Plan' a factor in reducing what he called the dirty money in the hands of traffickers. Ali Hashemi stated in an interview with ISNA that about 60% of consumers use opium and its derivatives, and thus this plan emphasizes only the liberalization of opium. Mr. Hashemi mentioned that implementing demand reduction management policies through state drug distribution will help reduce the money that the mafia obtains through drug distribution and trafficking, which has corrupted thousands of government agencies, including lawyers and judges. Ali Safatian, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, referred to a plan titled 'Providing Opium to Individuals Over 50' written by the Anti-Drug Headquarters, noting that this plan was not implemented by the 9th and 10th governments. Nevertheless, the new plan announced last week is not the first time this has been proposed; it is an old plan. Hassan Norouzi, spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament's Judicial and Legal Commission, mentioned on Friday, July 30, the final approval of the state drug distribution proposal and referred to it as 'similar to the state drug distribution plan before the revolution'. ILNA news agency quoted Hassan Norouzi stating that diluted drugs will be provided to addicts so that they can gradually quit.