Health official note sharp increases in drug abuse

Iraqis are increasingly turning to drug abuse as a way to escape – albeit temporarily – the chronic environment of insecurity, lawlessness and poverty, say health workers and government officials. “Iraqis are consuming illicit drugs like they never have before,” said Kamel Ali, head of the health ministry’s drug-prevention programme. “Each day, they’re shifting to more dangerous drugs due to the stress associated with violence.” According to Ali, the number of drug abusers countrywide has increased by about 50 percent since the beginning of the year, with an estimated 2 percent of the total population now addicted to illegal narcotics. Ali added, however, that this figure could be much higher because many local physicians lack the specialised knowledge to diagnose cases of drug addiction. “We have very good laboratories for toxicology, but this isn’t enough,” he said. “Different kinds of drugs are entering the country, and many of the cases seen by doctors are those of drug abusers who are also alcoholics.” Officials at Ibn Rushd Psychiatric Hospital in Baghdad – the only medical facility in the country that treats drug addicts who have also exhibited psychological problems – pointed to a worrying increase in the use of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, valium and amphetamines. Officials went on to point out that the main source of drugs like cocaine and marijuana was Afghanistan, via Iran. Pharmaceutical drugs, meanwhile, such as valium and amphetamines, come by way of Syria, Jordan and Iran. “With no controls, anyone can get products containing amphetamines and codeine – which is derivative from morphine – from any pharmacy,” said Ali. Such drugs can be found in Iraqi pharmacies for as little as US $0.5 per bottle of valium or codeine, while a gram of cocaine can be purchased in some suburbs for between US $2 and US $7. Dr Nuri Faleh, a psychiatrist at Ibn Rushd hospital, noted that most of the patients at the centre came from poor suburbs of the capital. After psychological analyses, the centre found violence and poverty to be the main causes of addiction. “They use drugs as a way of escaping reality,” said Faleh, who went on to warn: “If the trend continues at the current rate, it could reach epidemic proportions.” Over the past two years, the United Nations has pledged US $3.2 million to combat drug abuse in Iraq. According to government and local doctors, however, the problem is likely to persist as long as fighting and sectarian violence rage across the war-torn country, occupied by US military forces since 2003. “Large-scale drug addiction was first noticeable following the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s,” said Saleh Rawi, a psychiatry professor at Baghdad University. “Today, the problem is much bigger, because in today’s Iraq – with its poverty, unemployment and violence – it’s practically impossible for the drug abuser to change his or her life.” In an attempt to thwart the phenomenon, awareness campaigns are being developed by the health ministry’s drug-prevention department. But officials complain that, due to the general lack of security, they often encounter difficulties reaching more remote areas, particularly the outskirts of urban areas where addiction is said to be the most pervasive. AS/AR/AM