TEHRAN –The national week on the fight against drug addiction and its social harms in schools will be held from November 13th to 19th.

The decrease in the age of drug addiction in different countries of the world, including Iran, in recent decades has been a source of concern for authorities of the anti-narcotics headquarters. 

Therefore, they have put various programs on the agenda to deal with the prevalence of drug abuse among young people, IRNA reported.

“The average age of drug abuse and addiction in Iran is 24, in the world it is 19, which shows that Iran has a better situation compared to the other parts of the world,” IRNA quoted Eskandar Momeni, the secretary general of the anti-narcotics headquarters, as saying.

Accordingly, the week to combat addiction and its social harms in the new academic year (started on September 23), will be held in schools.

Global support ‘essential’

In October, Iran anti-narcotics police chief, Iraj Kakavand, in a meeting with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) representative in Tehran, Alexander Fedulov, called it essential to support Iran in the fight against drug trafficking.

During the meeting, Fedulov said the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been committed to a serious and decisive fight against narcotics at the regional and global level, IRIB reported.

Iran has spent a huge sum of money fighting the war on drugs, and apart from that, many anti-narcotics forces have sacrificed their lives in this way. The high number of martyrs and injured shows Iran's serious determination to deal with this scourge, the UN official added.

"Considering the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is at the forefront of the fight against drug trafficking, the UNODC and the international community support of Iran should be proportionate to the activities and actions at the regional and global level.”

He stated since new smuggling routes and concealment methods are emerging, it is necessary for the anti-narcotics police to be equipped with new detection equipment and tools. Needless to say, the UNODC in Tehran plays a prominent role in providing some of these tools.

Kakavand, for his part, highlighted the need to promote regional cooperation and said, “The Anti-Narcotics Police of Iran has always announced its readiness to collaborate and improve cooperation with all the countries in the region and the world to eradicate narcotics.”

Holding meetings with the anti-narcotics police of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the form of a tripartite initiative in previous years is a strong proof of this claim, he noted.

MT/MG