ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan regional has seen a sharp increase in illegal drug arrests and addiction with the health and prison sectors scrambling to address the problem.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Ministry said in addition to special treatment centers at government-run hospitals, where patients with addiction problems are treated, psychiatric clinics offering professional assistance have also sprung up to face the growing number of addicts in the country.
Dr Khalis Qadir, a spokesperson at the health ministry said the alarming rise of addicts had pushed the ministry to consider building a new hospital specialized in treating addcition.
“The construction of the special hospital is temporarily suspended because of the financial crisis in the country which is why we, at the moment, use psychiatric centers and the like for the purpose,” Qadir said, adding he hoped the hospital would be prioritized by the government.
Officials see the increased cross-border movement of people and goods between Iran, Iraq and Turkey since early 2010 as the main reason behind the rise.
Police say smugglers often us Kurdistan region as a transit route to Turkey and then to Europe.
“We need more sophisticated devices to detect illicit drugs when visitors enter or leave the country,” said Masoud Mohammad, who is charge of the Haji Omran border gate, one of the two entry points into the Kurdistan region from Iran to the east.
Mohammad said despite their trained units at the border checkpoints, who search visiting people and their vehicles, experienced smugglers manage to carry the banned drugs into the Kurdistan region.
“We have trained dogs and some very good equipment, but smugglers frequently change methods which is why we should have better technology,” Mohammad added.
Of the 3,069 convicted prisoners in the Kurdistan region’s three provinces, 510 people are serving sentences for violating illicit drug laws.
Ahmed Najmadin, who is in charge of the office supervising prisons in the Kurdistan region, said the majority of those convicted for drug-related violations are from the Kurdistan region.
“We have 10 women among the 354 Iraqi Kurdish nationals who have been convicted for possession or using the substances,” Najmadin said.
Iraq has one of toughest regulations in the region against illicit drug violations, which gives authorities the legal space to discipline both the dealer and the customer.
According to data provided by the Kurdish anti-narcotic police, more than 50 kilograms of illicit drugs were seized in the last year, a notable increase compared to previous years.
Despite the negative trend, the health ministry did report that 94 former addicts had reached full recovery after long-term treatment at government facilities across the region
