Plight of drug addicts in the Kurdish city of Saqqez. Photo: Rudaw
SAQQEZ, Iran - As soon as the bustle of the afternoon traffic subsides in Saqqez, a city in Iran's western Kurdish region, drug addicts appear, roaming and sitting in the narrow and dark alleys of the town, looking for a hit.
They are ready to do whatever it takes to feed their habit as they gather in groups of two or more, inhaling drugs of various kinds, taking pulls, or sharing needles.
"It is a big problem and huge damage that has befallen the Kurdish society, especially Rojhelat [Kurdish region in western Iran]. Every family and the society as a whole are suffering from this epidemic," activist Shiler Rashidi told Rudaw on Saturday.
A large number of the addicts are women, each of whom holds a story of why they got involved with drugs, sharing it on the condition of anonymity.
"I was married off [to a man] by my father. My father lost me in gambling [to marry off] to the winner. But then we divorced. I have two children with him," said one drug addict.
She does not know where her children are now, she added.
There is no official toll on the number of addicts in Saqqez, but activist Hero Meimari says “you could at least come across 200 drug addicts on the streets” in one day.
Addiction is associated with an increase in other social and economic problems in Iranian society.
In 2017, Iran’s Drug Control Organization (DGO) estimated around 2.8 million people out of its population of 80 million regularly use drugs – up from 1.3 million in 2011.
Medical costs and mitigating the effects of unemployment have placed further strain on the already struggling economy.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment