30 Percent Increase in Victims of Drug Use

Only a few days after a ban on certain medications, including the powerful pain reliever Tramadol, went into effect, one newspaper based in Tehran reported an explosion in the illegal trading of “the deadliest drug” in Iranian pharmacies. The report cites shocking numbers pointing to a 30 percent yearly increase in the number of victims poisoned by the drug and a rise in the number of deaths resulting from Tramadol poisoning.

Tramadol is a pain reliever which is weaker than Morphine but can cause serious addiction, similar to opium. The drug was first introduced to the Iranian markets about a decade ago.

In Iran, which is a leading country in terms of per capita drug consumption, the drug trade is booming while the average age of drug users is quickly going down. Some reports have gone as far as pointing out the problem as “the main unofficial problem” in Iranian schools. Despite the lack of accurate and comprehensive data, the available official data shows that many adolescents are now using drugs.

Last summer, the Iranian health minister Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi announced that 94.8 percent of the drug addicts in Iran are male, while 5.2 percent are female.

Earlier in the spring, a drug enforcement official, Hamid Sarrami, had announced that the drug use age in Iran had fallen from 23 years of age to under 20 years of age, noting: “According to data from the year 1386 [2007-2008], there are two million heavy drug users in the country, 60 percent of whom are married and live in households with 5 to 6 children. This means that 12 million people in Iran are in danger of social ills associated with drugs.”

According to annual reports, more drugs are confiscated by law enforcement officials in Iran than in any other country, even though the government is claiming that it can only confiscate a small percentage of the thousands of tonnes of drugs that are smuggled into the country every year.

Historically, the use of opium and heroin has been popular in Iran. Opium is easily accessible in  Iran and the country ranks first in per capital opium users. Shipments of opium and heroin are easily smuggled into the country from Afghanistan and Pakistan – which comprise the “golden crescent” region of drug trade – through the eastern borders.

In recent years, however, many Iranian drug users have turned into more complex drug compounds, such as Tramadol pills. This week, E’temad daily reported that in 1385 [2006-2007] about 40 tonnes of Tramadol were consumed in Iran.

The report was published only days after the Iranian health ministry issued a directive announcing that it will no longer process import permits for 118 drugs, including pain killers such as codeine and Tramadol pills.

Experts, however, are worried that the illegal smuggling of Tramadol by drug traders who may taint the medication with other harmful substances will place the health of many users in severe risk.