Increase in the Number of Drug Addicts to 'Four Million'

The newspaper Shahrvand reports that Ali Hashemi, head of the Anti-Drug Committee of the Expediency Discernment Council, stated that the number of drug addicts in Iran has reached 'four million'. According to the newspaper, Hashemi noted that 'in 2011, an epidemiological study on addiction was conducted, but the then-president did not allow the results to be announced', indicating that this study revealed the existence of four million consumers, including recreational users, in Iran. He also mentioned that 'in 1941, there were one and a half million users, in 1970, two million, in 1977, three million, in 1987, two million, in 2004, three million and 660 thousand, in 2006, 650 to 800 thousand, and in 2007, according to official statistics from the Anti-Drug Headquarters, there were one million and 200 thousand drug users', but this figure has now reached its highest level of four million based on the 2011 epidemiological study. The head of the Independent Anti-Drug Committee of the Expediency Discernment Council also stated that 'based on extensive research published in 2011, the approximate number of users was estimated at three million and 150 thousand'. According to this, 52.19% of addicts used opium, 2.83% used resin, 9.66% used heroin, 3.08% used ecstasy, 26.22% used crystal meth, 15.94% used crack, and 6.43% used hashish. The newspaper Shahrvand also reported that one of the statistics announced by Ali Hashemi pertains to the economic damage caused by drugs in Iran. While last year, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior and Secretary of the Anti-Drug Headquarters, announced that drugs cause 10 trillion tomans in damage to the Iranian economy annually, Ali Hashemi claims this figure is 40 trillion tomans. Hashemi pointed out that 'once in 2004, a study on the economic impact of drugs was conducted with the cooperation of the Planning and Budget Organization, which was published in a limited book for officials'. According to this, it was estimated that the economic damage from drugs in that year was 12 billion dollars, equivalent to 10 trillion tomans. If we convert 12 billion dollars from 2004 to today's tomans, the annual damage from drugs would be 40 trillion tomans. Assuming there are two million addicts and 40 trillion tomans in damage, it can be said that the economic damage per addict per year exceeds 20 million tomans, resulting in a significant daily economic loss of about one hundred billion tomans due to this phenomenon. The head of the Independent Anti-Drug Committee of the Expediency Discernment Council stated that in mid-2005, 'the number of users of industrial pills was under 10 thousand and did not even reach half a percent. Meanwhile, by the end of the tenth government, the number of users of industrial drugs, according to their own official statistics, reached 330 thousand, and based on that, 26% of drug users were inclined towards industrial drugs, although unofficial statistics are higher than that.' Shahrvand also referred to another part of Ali Hashemi's remarks regarding 'the fluctuations in the price of industrial drugs from 162 million to 5 million tomans per kilogram' during the ninth and tenth governments, quoting Hashemi as saying: 'At that time, the price of industrial drugs based on reports from the Ministry of Intelligence, the Anti-Drug Headquarters, and the police was 168 to 162 million tomans per kilogram', but 'in the years 2007-2009, the price of industrial drugs dropped to five million tomans per kilogram'. After the reform of the law and the tightening of penalties in the Expediency Discernment Council, 'the price of industrial drugs has risen to 10-12 million tomans, indicating that the measures taken have not been very effective.' Hashemi also stated that 'based on a rough estimate in the last decade, eight people die daily due to drug use, and on the other hand, at least one hundred new people become addicted daily.' Shahrvand reported that Hashemi urged the eleventh government to 'accurately announce statistics in this area and not to continue the practice of announcing distorted statistics from the previous government.'