Baghdad

- After the phenomenon of drug trafficking and abuse in Iraq has increased among the youth in particular, there are efforts made by the Iraqi parliament in cooperation with the executive authority to limit the phenomenon through the formation of a supreme body linked to the Council of Ministers, and an amendment to the anti-drug law.

And while Iraq has turned from a drug crossing into a consumer in the last two decades, according to specialists, the drug trade and abuse in the country has reached unprecedented heights, devouring the body of society, which called on parliament to take action to reduce the phenomenon by tightening penalties.

The Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi parliament is working continuously with the government to create an anti-drug agency directly linked to the prime minister, according to committee member Hussein al-Amiri.

Al-Amiri said in press statements that drugs and cybercrime are dangerous and deadly weapons that have greatly affected society, stressing that his committee continues to hold meetings regarding the amendment of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law.

Drugs are spread, sold, and distributed in the poor and deprived areas of Baghdad, the capital, and other governorates, especially the southern ones. There is no official published statistics on the number of drug users in the country, but according to security officials, they are spread among young people of both sexes.

Poverty and homelessness drive drug use (Al Jazeera Net)

The causes of the drug outbreak

According to former member of the Iraqi Human Rights Commission, Ali al-Bayati, the numbers officially announced for the past year 2022 were represented in the arrest of 14,000 people among drug users and traffickers, including 500 women and juveniles, as trafficking gangs exploit them for the purpose of promotion and transportation.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Bayati pointed out that drugs are spreading more in poor areas and cities that suffer from high unemployment rates, as the rate of abuse among young people in the poorest areas reaches 70%.

He attributed the exacerbation of the spread of drugs to the absence of solutions that address the economic and social conditions and the lack of awareness, as well as to the lack of modern technologies to detect drugs in the border areas, the involvement of political parties and armed groups, and the absence of rehabilitation centers in Iraq.

Regarding ways to treat the phenomenon, Al-Bayati believes that the state should reduce penalties for drug abusers in light of the exacerbation of crises with the absence of quick solutions, and provide rehabilitation and treatment centers for drug abusers, while developing a real program to address economic and social causes and raise awareness in schools, universities, and religious, cultural and artistic platforms.

He also urged toughening the punishment for drug traffickers and developing capabilities for early detection and not allowing them to escape punishment while seeking international cooperation in the file, and striving to uncover the internal networks and political parties benefiting or cooperating in the promotion of drugs.

One of the poor neighborhoods in Baghdad where drug abuse is widespread (Al-Jazeera Net)

Addiction treatment

Regarding the numbers of people treated for addiction by health authorities, the mental health advisor at the Ministry of Health, Imad Abdel Razzaq, explained - to Al Jazeera Net - that 4,500 addicts and drug users have been treated since the beginning of 2022, noting that most of the drug users are between 15 and 30 years old.

For its part, the Anti-Narcotics Directorate confirmed the arrest of more than 15,000 suspects in drug cases during the past year, while quantities estimated at half a ton of drugs were seized, noting that the narcotic crystal entered illegally from several border governorates.

After 2003, Iraq turned from a crossing point for the transfer of drugs to a consumer, according to the security authorities, especially since most of the Iraqi borders and land crossings include a large number of fragile security areas, into which various types of drugs leak throughout the day.

Iraq used to impose the death penalty on drug users and dealers, but it enacted a new law in 2017 that included penalties for drug dealers, in addition to laws for treating addicts.

In this regard, security expert Safaa Al-Aasam confirms that Iraq, throughout the previous regimes, was drug-free, "but the state's weakness and complacency led to a large spread," especially since the higher authorities repeatedly confirmed that 50% of young people abused it.

And Al-Aasam believes - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that there is weakness in border control and arms that work to bring drugs into Iraq, so "the law must be applied strictly so that Iraq can dry up the sources and end the phenomenon, in addition to the need for awareness campaigns by various means."

Imad Abdul Razzaq pointed out that most drug users in Iraq are between the ages of 15 and 30 (websites).

Database

In a later development, the Minister of Interior, Abd al-Amir al-Shammari, directed, at the beginning of this month, to establish a database of drug trafficking networks, in an expanded meeting that included the director of drug control and directorates in the governorates, in which he warned of the need to activate the intelligence aspect to pursue drug traffickers and implement arrest warrants against drug dealers and promoters. she has.

Poverty and unemployment are two main factors for the spread of narcotics in Iraq, as the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs indicates that there are 4 million unemployed in Iraq, while the Ministry of Planning confirms that 14% of Iraqi youth are unemployed and do not have any source of income.

In this regard, the founder and president of the Iraqi Psychological Society, Qassem Hussein Salih, believes that the most dangerous threat to society is youth drug abuse that leads to damage to the nervous system and disruption of productive capacity, in addition to the abuser committing murders and theft, and may lead him to sudden death or suicide, just as it leads To marital infidelity and prostitution, and sometimes incest.

Multiple proposals

Earlier, the Anti-Narcotics Directorate at the Ministry of Interior revealed that the Ministry of Health had submitted a proposal to examine all state employees to establish their safety from drug abuse.

In a statement to the official news agency, Colonel Bilal Sobhi, the directorate's media director, said that the Ministry of Health submitted a proposal to examine all state employees to ensure their safety from drug use, and that his directorate approved it, provided that it is included in a legal text within the anti-drug law.

The deputy in Parliament for the Sovereignty Bloc, Ahmed Adnan Al-Juhaishi, said that his bloc called for amending the anti-drug law to include examination of all employees and students by medical committees on an annual basis, stressing that drugs have become a real threat to Iraq, and noting that more than 50 signatures have been obtained to legislate this amendment. With the support of Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi.

Mustafa Saadoun: Iraq does not need new bodies or institutions as much as it needs effective mechanisms (communication sites)

No need for new bodies

Local human rights organizations have another opinion, as the director of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (a non-governmental organization), Mustafa Saadoun, believes that Iraq does not need new bodies or institutions as much as it needs actual and sustainable mechanisms for the phenomenon of drug proliferation. Preventing drug access to cities and entry into the country is more important than legislation. Laws toughen penalties without implementation.

Saadoun expressed to Al-Jazeera Net his fear that the creation of a drug control body would be an extra link, and might contribute to the control of a political or partisan party over the drug trade in the country, especially if the body was subject to political quota, indicating that Iraq's current problem in the drug file is an executive problem. .

For his part, legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi believes that the Iraqi constitution allows the establishment of commissions for necessity and when the need arises, provided that it is established by law.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Tamimi explained that the previous drug law of 1965 was strict, as it punishes 15 years in prison for those who use drugs, although drugs were not widespread, and as for the current law that was legislated in 2017, the penalty for it is imprisonment from one to two years, and a fine. Financial amounts of up to 10 million dinars ($6,850) only, considering it a non-deterrent punishment.

Tons of drugs destroyed

At the end of last December, the Iraqi Ministry of Health revealed the destruction of 5,000 tons of narcotics and psychotropic substances, 54 million narcotic pills, 31,000 ampoules, and 9,000 vials of various drugs, which is the largest amount of drugs seized in the history of Iraq, which had been stored for years. in the forensic medicine department.