Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2004 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://www.boston.com/globe/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 Author: Jill Carroll, Globe Correspondent IRAQI OFFICIALS FEAR ABUSE OF MEDICINES IS FUELING CRIME BAGHDAD -- Every night around 8, Mohammed Fakhri watches the street boys emerge from the shadows of the capital's rough-and-tumble Betaween neighborhood. They roam past Fakhri's metalworking shop, watchful -- he says -- for an opportunity to commit robberies. He believes they are not driven simply by boredom and poverty, but by drugs. From his narrow workshop amid the warren of small streets and sagging British colonial-era buildings, Fakhri has watched drug use soar in the capital since the war ended, he said. Under Saddam Hussein, the antidrug program was simple: death for users and sellers. But just after the war, looters ransacked hospitals and government stores of medicine, and much of it has landed on the streets of Baghdad, according to ordinary Iraqis and police officials. Of particular concern are drugs meant to treat psychiatric disorders. "You can see them here in this neighborhood," Fakhri said. "They use medicine. It is cheap, not like hashisheh," as marijuana is called in Iraq. Colonel Ahmed Aboud, who heads the police force in the Jadeed neighborhood of Baghdad, pulled open his desk drawer recently and tossed a small pack of beige pills onto his desk. It is a typical example of what his officers find for sale during their thrice-daily patrols for drugs. The sheet of 15 small pills is labeled Benzhexol HCL, which is used to treat Parkinson's disease and to counter the effect of antipsychotic medications. But an overdose can bring on hallucinations. The sheet costs about $3 on the streets. "If [someone] uses these tablets . . . he will do anything," Aboud said. Lacking detailed records, authorities are not sure how many Iraqis are abusing the medications, as well as other drugs. General Ahmed Ibrahim, head of Iraqi police, put the figure at about 5 percent, up from 2 percent under Hussein. Police in neighborhoods known for drug use say the figure could be as high as 15 percent. But the authorities say they are sure of the effects of the medications when they end up in the wrong hands. "This kind of medicine pushes them to commit more crimes," including carjackings, murders, assaults, and familial abuse, said a major in the Maydan police station who declined to give his name. "It's cheap and affects them like alcohol." While coalition officials played down the extent of the problem, Iraqis worry that recreational drugs are gaining a foothold in the country. Police and residents say cocaine, heroin, and marijuana are entering Iraq more freely now from other countries, mainly Iran. The southern town of Amarah is widely thought to be a major stop for drugs flowing from Afghanistan and Iran into countries along the Persian Gulf. Dr. Hashim Zainy, head of the Baghdad psychiatric hospital, which houses Iraq's only drug treatment clinic, said that before the war the abuse of medicines was confined to prisoners and soldiers. But the habit scattered among the general population after Hussein emptied prisons and the army disintegrated, he said. "Previously, the sources of medicines were very limited," Zainy said. "The only sources were hospitals. Nowadays, it is spreading in the street." His 74-bed clinic once received patients from all over the country. Now, so few come that he cannot collect reliable statistics on drug use. Patients stay away partly because they now are afraid to travel in a country where roadside bombs are common, Zainy said, but also because he restricted prescriptions when he took over the clinic almost a year ago in an attempt to prevent the misuse of the medicines. "The problem of drug abuse is underreported. One of the many reasons they came to this hospital is to get drugs." On Muraba'a Street, residents say roaming young men buy the medicines from gangs that have taken over the neighborhood, and crush them for use in cigarettes or pop them whole. "If [gangs] hear I am informing on them and giving details, tomorrow they kill me and my brother," said Jassam Haj, 50, standing next to his brother in their spare-parts shop. The brothers are angry about the crime bred by the drugs. "When they take this kind of [antipsychotic] tablet, they have a sign hanging on them: 'Killer for rent,' " said Haj's brother, who declined to give his name. "In Saddam's time, it was very bad. But the best thing Saddam did was be strict with drug users and sellers. They killed them." Haj's brother said local gangs demand protection money, the equivalent of about $50, from merchants. The short, pudgy man waved at a neighboring shop. "He didn't pay," he said. "They looted his shop four times." Aboud, the police colonel, said financing from the US-led authority for sting operations to catch gangs selling drugs has dropped off. "During the previous regime's time, the informants were paid a lot of money because it is dangerous work," he said. "But now we haven't got a good budget to solve the problem. There are less informants now for all crimes." But Ibrahim, the Iraqi police chief, said American authorities have provided ample resources, including developing a new antidrug unit. The specialized 25-person unit is one of five being organized, with each focusing on a different type of crime. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake