Dog's Sweat with a Taste of Death: New Wave of Alcohol Victims in Iran

A new wave of methanol alcohol poisoning in four provinces of Hormozgan, North Khorasan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and Alborz has claimed 42 lives and hospitalized over 400 people in less than a week. From October 1 to 6 of this year, 16 people died in Hormozgan, two in North Khorasan, two in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and three in Alborz due to the consumption of contaminated or non-standard alcoholic beverages. A significant number have suffered serious injuries to their eyes and kidneys and are still hospitalized for treatment. The main cause of these deaths and irreparable physical injuries is the consumption of homemade alcohol produced in workshops that, due to impurities from methanol or wood alcohol, leads to poisoning. Some producers also add medications such as tramadol, diazepam, and methadone to these drinks, which increases the likelihood of death when consumed simultaneously with alcohol. According to official statistics, nearly 5,500 people die annually in Iran due to various types of poisoning. 54% of these deaths are due to 'substance abuse and stimulants,' 34% due to 'drug poisoning,' and 20% due to the consumption of 'rice pills, pesticides, alcohol, rodenticides, and cyanide.' According to Roozbeh Korduni, director of the Social Damage Affairs Office of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, approximately 60 million liters of alcoholic beverages are consumed annually, part of which is produced at home under non-standard conditions and sold in the underground market. Previously, Iranian media quoted Ali Akbar Sayyari, Deputy Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, as saying that 420 million liters of alcohol are consumed annually in the country. In October 2014, Hassan Tamini Lichai, a member of parliament, cited the director of mental health at the Ministry of Health, stating that the annual consumption of alcoholic beverages in Iran was 200 million liters. These non-standard alcohols are the source of many poisonings and deaths in Iran, leading to the deaths of 145 people in 2010. In 2011, over 92 people died, in 2012 over 135 people, in 2013 also 135 people, and in 2014 more than 80 people died due to poisonings from non-standard beverages in various cities in Iran. On July 11, 2017, five people in Shiraz, Fasa, and Tabas died from drinking methanol-containing alcohol, and another person lost their eyesight. On August 2, it was reported that the consumption of 'homemade alcoholic beverages' in Sirjan County, Kerman Province, led to the deaths of at least five people and sent 114 others to the hospital. On August 1 of the same year, it was reported that three people in Fars Province died from consuming non-standard alcohol. A significant portion of these injuries is due to the fact that the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages are considered crimes under the laws of the Islamic Republic, with a punishment of 80 lashes for consumption, which can lead to execution upon repeat offenses. Despite these restrictions, the latest results from a national addiction epidemiology survey in Iran indicate a rise in alcohol consumption and 'simultaneous use of multiple substances.' According to the results of this survey, announced in 2016, alcohol is the second most consumed substance in Iran after cigarettes. According to official statistics, there are about 130,000 alcohol addicts (one million consumers), 1.5 to three million drug addicts (7 to 10 million consumers), and 8.5 to 10 million cigarette addicts (20 million consumers) in Iran. Alcohol consumers obtain their drinks in the informal market through three methods: 'homemade beverages,' 'medical or white alcohol,' and 'imported alcoholic beverages' that are smuggled into the country. No precise statistics on the production of homemade alcohol have been published so far, but the Ministry of Industries announced in November 2007 that 20 companies producing ethyl alcohol, known among the people as medical alcohol, produce at least 16.2 million liters of this type of alcohol annually. The Ministry of Health also mandated these factories to add a special substance that makes medical alcohol taste bitter and undrinkable, but this measure has not significantly reduced consumers' inclination towards these dangerous substances. In this context, 'homemade alcoholic beverages' have at least led to one person being brain dead in Kish. The annual death toll from various poisonings in Iran exceeds five thousand, and the number of alcohol poisoning deaths has reached 31. The number of alcohol poisoning victims has increased: 12 people in two days; two people have been arrested.