Pubdate: Mon, 25 Jun 2001
Source: Times of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan)
Copyright: 2001 The Times of Central Asia
Contact:  http://www.times.kg/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1202

IRAN DRUG MENACE TIED TO AFGHANISTAN`S POPPY CULTIVATION

SARI, MAZANDARAN PROV. Director of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Headquarters 
Mohammad Fallah said here Sunday that as long as Afghanistan 
continues to cultivate opium poppies, and there is rampant insecurity 
in the country, Iran's drug problem will continue.

Speaking at a seminar on finding ways of combating drugs, he added, 
"We have to assist in establishing security for anti-drug trafficking 
policies in Iran to be successful."

The drug tsar added that with a stable Afghanistan and through 
investment in the country's agricultural sector, cultivation of opium 
poppies will plummet and Iran's problems will also lessen.

Fallah said that the closure of the eastern borders has been 
ineffective, adding, "Even if we do our utmost in closing the eastern 
borders, it will not prevent the drugs from getting in Iran."

He refuted the statements that direct confrontation and closure of 
the borders can in fact prevent drug trafficking calling such 
policies as 'shallow in scope'.

"A proof that such polices do not work is the high number of illegal 
Afghans entering the country despite the tight border control," 
Fallah pointed out.

He said statements claiming that with the mopping-up of the 'Khak 
Sefid' region in northeastern Tehran about 80 percent of narcotics in 
the Greater Tehran area have be wiped out are false since there is 
still drug distribution in Tehran.

"This shows that any program based on merely physical confrontation 
will fail and there should be other solutions," the anti-drug 
campaign chief said.

Pointing out that narcotics use has roots in economic malaise, 
unemployment, injustice and cultural issues, Fallah said that greater 
cultural work is needed to uproot this scourge, he said.

He said that economic problems, poverty and unemployment do not on 
their own lead to drug abuse, adding, "Injustices rampant in the 
society is can contribute to the drug menace."

Domestic laws also contribute to the growth in drug use, said Fallah 
adding, "Our laws gives such leeway to the judges that they can 
easily sentence an addict to prison."

He said the laws should be delineated such that in addition to prison 
other solutions be made available to individuals that do not infringe 
upon their dignity.

"If we throw someone in prison even if for few hours, and his dignity 
is questioned, then we have opened the door for drug use for him," he 
said.

This is not to say that there should not be any physical punishment, 
but that "Our mind set is that imprisonment should be the last 
resort."

Iran is a major route for smuggling drugs from Afghanistan and 
Pakistan to markets in the Persian Gulf, Europe and beyond. Opium, 
heroin, hashish and morphine are hauled through the country and 
single busts involving a ton or more of drugs are not uncommon.

Iranian authorities stepped up surveillance along the country's 
borders by ordering the setting up of outposts and an electronically 
monitored barbed wire fence along the 945-kilometer border with 
Afghanistan. A budget of 200 billion rials (dlrs 25 million) was 
allocated for the project.

Official reports say 3,100 Iranian police officers have been killed 
in drug-related battles throughout Iran over the past twenty years.
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MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe