Iran Studying Plan to Hand Out Diluted Drugs to Addicts

Iranian lawmakers have adopted a motion to distribute diluted narcotics among drug addicts in a bid to cut off their relationship with drug traffickers, said Hassan Norouzi, the spokesperson for the Parliament’s Judicial and Legal Commission.

“The plan to distribute [low-grade] drugs is similar to what used to be implemented before the [1979 Iran’s Islamic] Revolution,” he noted, according to a Farsi report by ILNA.

He said all relevant authorities have given the go-ahead to the proposal.

“Given the special emphasis that the Establishment’s macro-policies put on the necessity of cutting off the relationship between drug addicts and narco-traffickers, we decided that the government hand out diluted drugs to addicts, so that they will be able to give up their addiction gradually and, instead of being drawn to drug-traffickers, turn to the Establishment and meet their needs through official channels,” he said.

He then noted that the commission will continue its work to finalize the plan’s approval.

As for what kinds of narcotics the government is to distribute among drug addicts, he said, “These drugs include methadone and substances more diluted than previous ones, and the authority to decide on that rests with bylaws which are to be jointly drawn up by the Ministry of Justice and [Iran’s] Drug Enforcement HQ, and which could come into effect after getting the all clear from the Cabinet,” said the top lawmaker.

He was asked whether or not the proposal provides for the substitution of industrial drugs. In response, the spokesman said, “The same bylaws will be the reference to make a decision on that, and our objective is to sever the relation between drug addicts and narco-traffickers.’

He underscored the representatives of all authorities involved in the proposal were present at the meeting of the commission and all agreed to the plan.