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IRAQ: Traumatised young Iraqis turn increasingly to hard
drugs
11 Oct 2005 14:16:27 GMT
Source: IRIN
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KERBALA, 11 October (IRIN) - Khalid Hussein, a 22-year-old university drop-out, is a heroin addict, just like
his Dad. And with his father's blessing he sells the drug on the streets of Kerbala to support his family.It is early morning. Khalid's father snorts a small quantity of heroin himself and wishes
his son good luck as he sets out into the streets of this city, 160 km south of Baghdad, to find new customers."In the beginning I found the idea strange, but today I feel comfortable doing it
because at the same time as I'm earning my own money, I'm also using the drug and it helps me forget the terror that has descended on our lives since the foreigners took over our country," Hussein
said.He and his father are among the rising number of Iraqi addicts who also work as dealers to make money and finance their expensive habit.When they can't sell enough heroin to finance their
next fix, many resort to stealing from shops instead.The Ministry of Health has warned that drug abuse is rising steadily among men and women of all ages in Iraq, especially in the capital Baghdad
and in the south of the country.Officials at the Ministry of Interior blame an increasing influx of hard drugs smuggled in from abroad for the rise in consumption. They also say the escalating
rebellion by Islamic insurgents has led the government to focus on security issues instead.Many consumers of heroin and cocaine say they have been traumatised by the increasing cycle of political
violence in Iraq as Islamic insurgents step up their fight against the US-led coalition which invaded the country in 2003 to depose former president Saddam Hussein.And drug pushers told IRIN they
had found a lucrative market amongst soldiers in the US-led occupation forces. They report strong demand from Italian troops in particular.Many of the foreign troops ask their counterparts in the
Iraqi security forces to buy on the street for them, they added.Business is booming as heroin from Afghanistan filters easily through the porous frontier with neighbouring Iran and cocaine trickles
in from Turkey.The street price of a gramme of heroin has jumped from US $15 before the US-led invasion two years ago to between $20 and $25 today. And there is no shortage of Iraqi consumers.Massive increase in drug consumption"There has a huge increase in the consumption of drugs since last year," said Kamel Ali, director of the Ministry of Health's drug control programme."The numbers have doubled. In most cases the users are youths who have become addicted and are now working as drug dealers under pressure from the traffickers in order to keep themselves supplied,"
he said.According to Ali, the number of registered addicts in suburban Baghdad has more than doubled over the past year, rising to over 7,000 from 3,000 in 2004.In Kerbala, meanwhile, the number
of registered addicts has tripled, he said. The city now has 1,200 known drug users, up from 400 a year ago.The problem gets worse, he said, the closer you get to the Iranian border.The Ministry
of the Interior said police had captured 45 cars carrying packages of smuggled heroin over the past 15 months. Their drivers face life imprisonment or even the death penalty, if convicted.But stiff
penalties for drug dealing are no longer an effective deterrent.Under Saddam Hussein's government, people caught in possession of hard drugs were routinely executed and few people dared try such
banned substances. But today it is quite common to see young men snorting heroin in deserted areas of waste ground in Baghdad or even in the streets.They show little fear of the government
security forces, which now have appear to have many drug addicts in their own ranks."They cannot do anything to us," Abu Ali, one drug dealer in Baghdad told IRIN. "Sometimes you even find members
of the Iraqi army or the police looking for us to buy some of this great white powder which makes you fly to another planet," he added.Ali, who is himself a heroin addict, says drug pushers have to
sign up a new customer everyday to be able to keep their own habit going.Only one sniffer dogSaad Mehdi, a member of the recently created anti-drug team at the Ministry of the Interior,
blamed weak security and porous borders for the recent increase in drug trafficking.He complained there was only one sniffer dog trained to detect drugs in the whole of Iraq, which was based at
Baghdad airport."These dogs are essential to guarantee that these kinds of drugs do not enter our country, but there are no dogs and no searches for these substances at the Iranian border, which is
the main transit point for drugs coming in from Afghanistan," Mehdi said.But he also admitted that the government had taken its eye off the ball off the drugs issue, because it had been distracted
by the armed uprising."Unfortunately the intensification of the insurgency in Iraq and insecurity throughout the country has caused the government to neglect this important issue," Mehdi said."In
the present circumstances we have to choose our priorities and the insurgency is killing more people than the drugs are," said Saruwad Haeezid, another Interior Ministry official.A family's
sufferingOnly limited help is available for those addicts who want to kick the habit.Hiba Hassan is still trying to seek medical help for her 24-year-old son, who recently became a heroin
junkie."There are very few professionals left in Iraq who have the ability to support our sons," she said. "God bless all mothers in Iraq and punish those responsible, starting with the Iraq
government."Between her tears, Hassan told how her son's best friend was a dealer and that by the time she and her husband discovered this, her son was already hooked."We never let our son want
for anything, even during these difficult times and we have always given him love," she said. "Insecurity in the country and bad government have allowed drugs to enter Iraq and now we are the ones who
have to pay for it."The Democracy and Peace Humanitarian Organisation is one of the only four NGOs in Baghdad working with drug addicts who want kick their habit.And it persists, despite receiving
threats receiving threats from the drug traffickers who accuse the organisation of undermining their business."We have developed a volunteer group in which psychologists and doctors help these
youths, and sometimes even adults, overcome their dependence, but difficulties in getting funding have seriously delayed our work," said Marwan Ibn Youssef, the president of the organisation.He said
the NGO had received more than four threatening letters and that traffickers had accused it of taking their drug peddlers off the streets.Some 34 young people are currently being treated by the
organisation. Eight so far have fully rehabilitated and now have jobs outside the capital.The Iraq Red Crescent Society said it was still waiting for funding from international organisations to
develop an anti-drugs programme that would involve psychologists and psychiatrists.It hopes to start one later this year."Our main problem is that we have stopped launching any new projects for
the time being and have switched all our resources over to helping displaced people who increase in number every week in Iraq, but we expect funding soon and then we can begin this new project," said
Red Crescent spokeswoman Ferdous al-Abadi.
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