Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli read a message from President Rouhani at a conference held on the occasion of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at Tehran’s IRIB International Conference Hall.
In the message, Rouhani seized the World Drug Day as an opportunity to raise public awareness of destructive damages of narcotics and to find the best way to encounter such a horrific social problem.
Rouhani gravely lamented that the youth who are the best source of production in the society, are the first victims of drug abuse.
Worsening the trouble, Iran’s common border with Afghanistan which is the world’s biggest drug harvester and the cradle for drug traffickers and organized crimes, poses heavy human consequences on Iran, Rouhani further regretted.
In line with its preventive measures, currently implementing local expertise and experience, Iran is benefiting 85% involvement of NGOs in preventing, curing, and alleviating the harms of the narcotics and it can be a useful model for other countries grappling with the same issue, according to his message.
President Rouhani directed the attentions to 2015 theme of the world drug day announced by UN; “let’s develop our lives, our communities, our identities, without drugs” and expressed hope for more constructive steps by bearing this theme in mind and keeping in line with Iran’s approach toward drug abuse which focuses on the social measures in fight against narcotics.
He also urged the global community to consider four principles in defining their policies and programs:
1-Attending to alternative source of income in drug cultivating regions.
2-Being perseverant in cooperation against letting the money earned in drug business to get into world finances.
3-Sharing the responsibility with the countries on the transit line of the drugs along with logistic and technical supporting.
4- Sharing the experience in reducing the demand and the effects.
As the final touching of his message, President Rouhani honored the memory of more than 3,700 martyrs and 12,000 brave disabled of the country in the grave campaign, paid homage to all those who have lost their lives throughout the world for the same cause, and appreciated efforts of those involved in organizing the ceremony.
With at least 1,325,000 drug addicts in Iran, currently the biggest challenge for Iran is chemical narcotics which are possible to be synthesized in a small place with limited equipment. Iran is a world pioneer in fighting drugs with outstanding achievements in technologies related to detection of drugs.
By resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987, the General Assembly decided to observe 26 June as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse. This resolution recommended further action with regard to the report and conclusions of the 1987 International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
In his yesterday message, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov noted that opium cultivation in Afghanistan remains a formidable challenge, as is the production of cocaine in Latin America.
Having more than 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, Iran has focused on fighting drugs near the borders. In 2013, more than 77 percent of the seized narcotics were detected in eight border provinces.
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