Study: Drugs kill 4,000 people annually in Iran

Nearly 4,000 people in Iran die of drug consumption, state-run Drug Control Headquarters (DCHQ) announced yesterday.

“There are 2.8 million drug users in Iran out of a total of 300 million globally,” DCHQ’s Secretary-General, Eskandar Momeni, told Iranian News Agency (IRNA).

Momeni added that the Iranian authorities seized “950 tonnes of narcotics last year, up by 20 per cent from the previous year.”

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Iran ranks second after Europe in drug consumption, according to official data by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). However, the organisation says that the Islamic Republic ranks first in anti-narcotics measures.

Between 2-3 million Iranians have a substance use disorder. Additionally, almost 25% of Iranians who use drugs intravenously are HIV positive. To stanch the flow of heroin and other illegal drugs into Iran, the Iranian regime has spent over $800 million to build walls and dig ditches along the country’s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan to deter smugglers.