Police to be Permanently Stationed Around Schools in Tehran

The head of Tehran police announced, without providing details, the 'permanent deployment' of police around schools in the capital to prevent the distribution and sale of drugs and to 'deal with harassers.' Hossein Rahimi, the commander of Greater Tehran Police, mentioned in an interview with ILNA news agency that this initiative, named 'Security and Peace,' will be implemented around all schools in Tehran, especially high schools for both girls and boys, during two shifts: morning and afternoon. He stated that there will be a 'strong response' to 'harassers' and drug dealers. The Tehran police chief did not clarify whether this plan solely focuses on preventing drug trafficking or if it will also act as a 'moral security patrol' addressing relationships between boys and girls. In recent years, several government officials and members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have warned about the decreasing age of addiction in Iran and the changing patterns of drug use among students. Statistics regarding drug use among Iranian students vary, and the Ministry of Education has refrained from releasing accurate figures in this regard. Unofficial reports have emerged in recent years about the lowering of the 'age of drug experience' among students, but about three months ago, an official in Fars province announced that the age of addiction experience in the country has reached 15 years. Mohammad Reza Ebrahimi, the secretary of the Coordination Council for the Fight Against Drugs in Fars province, mentioned in an interview with ISNA news agency that while the average drug use experience across the country is 4.1% among students, a survey conducted in 2014 indicated that about 5.6% of all surveyed students had experienced drug use. In 2016, education officials and also Hossein Tala, a member of the Social Commission of the time in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, reported that there were 130,000 'addicted and regular drug-using students.' Mr. Tala stated in an interview with Mehr news agency that the age of addiction in Iran has dropped to 13 years and added that '1% of the total number of students in the country are addicted.' According to him, there are no statistics on the number of students who use drugs recreationally, 'otherwise the number would be even higher.' Shahindokht Molaverdi, the former Vice President of Iran for Women and Family Affairs, also announced that the 'average age of addiction' among girls is 13 years. Last year, Parviz Afshar, the spokesperson for the Drug Control Headquarters, announced that deaths from psychoactive substances in Iran have increased by 8.6% and called for education on this issue in schools, universities, military barracks, and even kindergartens.