A Member of Parliament: The Number of Addicts in Iran Has Increased Fivefold

The spokesperson for the Judicial and Legal Commission of Parliament stated that in the most optimistic scenario, six million people in Iran are addicted to drugs, consuming 60 tons of narcotics. Despite spending millions of tomans to combat drug abuse, the number of addicts in the country has increased "fivefold." On Tuesday (August 8), the website Khabar Online reported that Hassan Norouzi made these statements during a session reviewing the amendment of the death penalty for drug traffickers held in Parliament. Mr. Norouzi, as a supporter of the amendment, mentioned that the cost of fighting drug abuse in "year 96 was close to 306 billion tomans, the cost of treatment for reducing the harms of drug use was 280 billion tomans, and the cost of addiction prevention in the country is currently 98 billion tomans." According to this parliament member, "Despite all this budget, the population of addicts has increased from one percent to five percent, and we have five million addicts." Norouzi added, "Optimistically speaking, one million people consume drugs recreationally, which makes it six million addicts consuming 60 tons of narcotics. Where do these drugs come from?" He criticized Ali Moidi, the deputy of the Drug Control Headquarters, saying, "Mr. Moidi told us to give them time to review this plan, and we gave them a month, but they did not announce any program. They only know how to say we execute people." The spokesperson of the Judicial and Legal Commission asked Mr. Moidi how many international traffickers have been executed so far? ... Bring me the names of three international traffickers for execution.... Is it right to execute porters and innocent people?" He reiterated that the number of people awaiting prison for drug-related offenses is five thousand and three hundred, addressing Moidi, "On what grounds do you want to execute these people? ... The statistics for trafficking in year 91 was close to 500 tons, in year 93, 555 tons, and in year 94, Mr. Moidi himself said it was 618 tons." This parliament member added, "According to what Sharia law do you execute? Do we have a Quranic verse for this? Tell me if that verse is based on Moharebeh or corruption?" In this plan, execution is only considered for individuals who, according to Norouzi, are leaders or have used children and the insane or have produced and distributed over 50 kilograms of opium and over two kilograms of industrial drugs." Mr. Norouzi also discussed the impact of executions on drug trafficking, stating, "We have examined how much impact executions have had. 95 percent of the children of the executed have returned to drugs, and 95 percent of those who were pardoned have not returned to drugs." As reported by Iranian news agencies, IRNA, representatives in today’s public session of Parliament reviewed the proposal to add a clause to the drug control law, which had previously been referred for further examination to the commission, and referred it back for further review for the second time. According to IRNA, this decision was made with 163 votes in favor, 48 votes against, and eight abstentions out of a total of 257 present representatives. Ali Moidi, the deputy of the Drug Control Headquarters, opposed this proposal in the public session, stating that "95 percent of our community is healthy, and less than five percent are addicts or traffickers, and this proposal does not take into account the 95 percent of the healthy population." He added that this proposal focuses more on "traffickers" and "if this proposal is approved, it will endanger the health and security of the other 95 percent of society." Moidi further stated, "We agree with the generalities of this proposal, but we oppose its details as it creates problems for the stakeholders." Thousands of people in Iran are executed annually for drug-related crimes, which, according to officials, has not only failed to reduce drug trafficking but has also increased the number of addicts.