Iran Press/Iran news: "Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni at a press conference added: "According to the United Nations report, the area of agricultural land which is being cultivated specifically for drug and narcotics production has actually increased in Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, with the number of drug users trebling in the country."
General Momeni added: "Some Western countries have changed their laws regarding drug use, with some countries legalizing certain drugs. The use of Hashish has actually increased in some Western countries, and these countries are acting as both drug producers and drug traffickers."
According to an Iran Press report, Secretary-General of Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Headquarters added: "The UN report says there are 28 million drug users in America, which is about 10.6 percent of the total population, with 70000 Americans dying each year because of drug use, overdose, or other drug-related issues."
Brigadier General Momeni poignantly added: "The UN report actually thanks the Islamic Republic of Iran for confiscating 76 percent of all opium discovered in the world, and for confiscating 67 percent of all morphine discovered in the world, and for Iran's humane treatment of drug addicts."
He went on to say: "A national database of drug users and drug traffickers will soon be launched so that all relevant government departments, organizations and institutions can enter their information into the database and hopefully we can provide a more coordinated and efficient response to drug trafficking once the database becomes fully operational."
Commenting on the problem of long-term drug users, Brigadier General Momeni said the law has to be amended to deal more effectively with long-term drug users.
He said: "Six months is not enough to rehabilitate a long-term drug user, and more time is needed, thus existing laws must be amended to allow for this."
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