A crack epidemic is devastating the poverty-stricken Arab
Al-Ahwaz region of Iran, with credible reports suggesting that the regime’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) are behind the manufacture and
distribution of the deadly and highly addictive opiate in the region.
Addiction rates are skyrocketing amongst young people in the
region which is already afflicted by massive poverty and unemployment, despite
housing over 95 per cent of the oil and gas resources claimed by Iran since the
military annexation of Al-Ahwaz in 1925.
The IRGC is believed to be encouraging the spread of the
drug in powder and “rock” form as a means of driving the region’s young people
towards self-destructive addiction rather than directing their energies towards
any involvement in political activism against the regime.
According to Ahwazi activists, many crack houses have
appeared in recent years, with police targeting those who report their illicit
activities while avoiding taking action against the drug manufacturing and
distribution networks themselves. Drug dealers openly peddle the ultra-cheap
narcotics on street corners, in parks and in public areas with no effort from
the police to stop them.
The authorities’ de facto encouragement of the drug epidemic
has strengthened suspicions amongst activists that the regime, which is quick
to arrest any political dissident or human rights activists and to brutally
crackdown on any protests, is keen to encourage addiction as a means of
pacifying and subjugating young Ahwazis, diverting their energy towards
self-destruction.
Speaking to MEMO on condition of anonymity, a local Ahwazi
Arab activist said that the drugs trade is also a lucrative income source for
the IRGC. He went on to claim the IRGC has established many clandestine labs
manufacturing large quantities of the addictive narcotic. The activist further
claimed that the Revolutionary Guards are smuggling large quantities of crack
across the border into Iraq, adding that the regime is treating young Arab
Ahwazis as “lab rats” as a way of assessing the addictive potential of its
deadly narcotic produce before shipping it to other countries in the region.
One recovering addict, who has been clean of the drug for
two years, said that he first became addicted after having to drop out of
university. “I was studying law. I ended up unable to pay my tuition fees and
had to drop out of university,” he explained, adding that this led to a
spiraling depression which led him to try to numb his pain through drugs.
I ended up as an addict for two years. I was sinking into a
total depression and grief because of not being able to continue my education,
and losing hope of marrying my girlfriend. I began buying crack as an escape.
It was and still is very cheap. The drugs made me and everyone else on them
very happy, you’d see life as wonderful while you were high.
“I lost all my appetite. I weighed 113 kilos before I
started on crack. Within a year, my weight dropped to 48. I couldn’t eat. In
the end, two of my younger brothers locked me in a room and brought me herbal
medicines. It was hellish for the first few days going through the withdrawal
symptoms, but after that, I started to feel better, but the effects of the addiction
are still powerful – it destroyed my memory, my teeth are decayed and broken. I
have terrible swelling of my intestines…”
He broke down crying for a moment before taking a deep breath, and
continuing, “The Iranian regime destroyed my life. They are enemies of Ahwazi
Arabs. I feel like I just woke up. I will fight. I will never give up.”
The addiction runs rampant among women in Al-Ahwaz as
Iranian authorities hide true figures. Despite numerous reports issued by the
local media warning against ignoring the spread of drug use among young
Ahwazis, the trend has only escalated. Now another dilemma presents itself –
namely the lack of treatment and rehabilitation centres to address such
addiction. This vacuum of care only exacerbates the situation and neglects the
needs of those who have fallen victim to addiction.
Today, the issue of drug addiction has grown into one of the
most vexing challenges faced by Ahwazis amid an array of pressing global issues
such as widespread poverty, population crisis and environmental degradation.
According to Iran’s official figures, there are more than
150,000 people addicted to drugs in the province of Al-Ahwaz, though other
sources have estimated even higher figures. Even the lowest estimates show the
magnitude of drug addiction among Ahwazi Arab people in the region, signaling
extensive risks to their health.
Faranak Moussawi, director of women’s affairs in the
province, says a frustrating aspect is that an accurate estimate of how many
women are struggling with addiction in the region is unknown. This is due to
the fact that Iranian authorities do not publish official statistics regarding
women and addiction. Moussawi claims that the number of female drug addicts is
no less than one per cent of the region’s total population. However exact
numbers are hard to gather, as most women are afraid of disclosing their drug
use – fearing harsh reactions from family and society.
The official says that most of the women who come for
treatment at the drug rehabilitation centre admit that they have only just
recently developed the habit in the past two years, which Moussawi sees as a
sign that drugs are becoming more available in the region.
“The number of women addicts is about 9.3 per cent of the
total addict population in the region,” said Mohammadi, director of the Social
Pathology and Prevention in Al-Ahwaz. “The real figure may be higher than this
because most women hide their drug abuse and are unwilling to report it to the
authorities. In years passed, the percentage of women addicted to drugs was
less than four per cent of the total addict population in the province.
Unfortunately today, the figure has now doubled that,” he added.
Mohammadi also believes that secondary schools, industrial
zones, impoverished families, universities, marginalized communities, and
neglected areas are more vulnerable to the threat of drug prevalence and
therefore serious attention should be paid to these locations by the state.
Currently, there is only one centre in the entire region
that provides drug abuse treatment for women wishing to quit substance use.
This centre is managed and financed privately by individuals, without any
funding from the government. The centre, therefore, charges clients seeking
treatment about 600,000 Tomans ($179).
The trade and use of illegal drugs has become a phenomenon
in Al-Ahwaz, where substances like crack, heroine and morphine are easy to
purchase for young people. In many places, it has become cheaper than fruits,
but unlike fruits, drugs are widely available in all seasons. For this reason,
the proportion of drug addicts in Ahwaz, according to some official statistics
is the highest among the younger generation.
The Iranian regime’s alleged “fight against drug
trafficking” is pure propaganda, as the regime is deeply implicated in both
sides of the deadly trade, says Yaser Asadi, a London-based Ahwazi rights
activist from Iran. While the regime covers up its involvement in the drug
trade with some high-profile arrests and executions, these actions target only
the small-scale drug dealers.
Meanwhile, the regime benefits from both ends of the deadly
commerce: Inside Iran’s domestic market, the state-driven drug trade nets hefty
profits, while trapping Iranian youth in drug addiction, diverting them from
engaging in civil life and becoming potential political opponents that could
one day threaten the regime.
“Internationally, the regime earns billions in hard foreign
currencies from its trafficking operations, which helps bankroll the growing
network of toxic sectarian proxy forces that enable it to pursue its
expansionist agenda, inflicting instability and destruction across the region,”
Asadi explains.
But Iran’s illicit drug industry is the gift that keeps on
giving, as the regime shores up its efforts to destabilise its Arab neighbours
in general, and the Gulf States in particular, not only by drug-financing for
its proxy forces, bombs and other weapons, but also by marketing its “product”
to youth across the region. Iran’s leading proxy force, Hezbollah, plays a key
role in implementing this strategy on the ground, particularly in states
already destabilised by Iranian-backed military actions. Both the Iranian
regime and Hezbollah have exploited the deteriorating situation in Syria, Iraq
and Yemen to manufacture narcotics, which enable them to continue the cycle of
opiating the potentially militant youth and further financing military
adventurism.
Source: Middle East Monitor
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