A recent article covered a rather disturbing story out of the middle east. The story reported that as many as 1 in 7 Iranians are addicted to opium or heroin, all coming from the poppy fields of Afghanistan. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 93% of the world’s illicit opium market comes from Afghanistan. This recent increase in opium addiction has set the government into action, financing hundreds of addiction treatment centers and an additional 1,250 centers that offer addicts methadone, clean needles, and help for the hungry and those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
According to Iranian officials, the goal is not to combat the addicts, but rather fight the addiction by offering help however they can. Instead of jailing addicts, Iran focuses on trying to offer rehabilitation for the drug addiction - a method that has proven very successful in drug rehabilitation efforts against a worldwide society addicted to drugs.