Pubdate: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 Source: Tehran Times (Iran) Section: Social Copyright: 2003 Tehran Times Contact: http://www.tehrantimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1903 2.5M ADDICTS IN IRAN: OFFICIAL TEHRAN -- "There are 2.5 million addicts in the country," an advisor of secretary of Drug Control Headquarters (DCH) Mohammad Morad-Qoli said here on Friday. Morad-Qoli said addiction has become a major problem in the country, and called for an all-out campaign against the use of illicit drugs by all the government officials and the people all over the country. The advisor elaborated that drug traffickers have put the policy of polluting the countries on their agenda, and the Islamic Republic is no exception. Iran straddles major international transit routes of drugs from Afghanistan and Pakistan, better known as the "golden crescent" for lucrative markets in Europe, Persian Gulf and Central Asia. The campaign has won plaudits from international community, but the Islamic Republic of Iran has regularly complained it needed more than conciliatory messages in its single-handed fight. Iran has made efforts to check the rage, but the country's borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan -- stretching to more than 1200 kilometers mostly along deserts and mountainous regions -- have proved impenetrable. Morad-Qoli also said that an all-out plan for campaigning against drugs and drug abuses has been submitted to President Khatami, "which is on its closing stages of compilation." "Over 96% of the DCH's approvals have focused on confronting drug traffickers and abusers, and only four percent of them were about ways to treat and prevent such a social destructive disaster," he said adding that to get useful results in campaigning against drugs, all efforts should be made to reduce the rate of drug demands.