TEHRAN -- Tehran on Wednesday hosted the second ministerial meeting of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan on the campaign against drug trafficking.

The secretary of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters, Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam, blamed the “failure to combat drug trafficking and the expansion of the production of natural and chemical drugs” on the lack of proper planning.
A single strategy must be adopted by the drug-producing nations, the countries which lie along the routes of drug traffickers, and the consumer states, which are mainly European countries, in efforts to cut relations among producers, distributors, and consumers of drugs, he stated.
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has created serious problems for drug-transit countries, especially Iran, which is the shortest route for traffickers, Ahmadi-Moqaddam lamented.
“To shift Afghanistan’s economic dependency from drugs to a healthy economy, influential solutions must be found such as alternative crops and limiting drug cultivation to medicinal applications,” he added.
Addressing the meeting, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said the campaign against drug trafficking requires more than just holding conferences.
Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is decreasing, he said, adding, “Many activities are being planned to combat drug trafficking… If all sides are coordinated, we will succeed.”
According to reports, drug production in Afghanistan victimizes about 100,000 annually, Costa pointed out.
Drug trafficking, which is an important factor in the spread of HIV infection, should be fought through efforts to decrease production and consumption, he added