The State Welfare Organization has launched a Drug Abuse Hotline to help addicts and their families. “It is an excellent resource for many families with questions about addiction and potential treatment,” said Rasould Zargarpour, head of Isfahan Province Anti-Narcotics Council, Borna News Agency reported. The hotline will provide counseling services and referrals to rehabilitation facilities. There are nearly 1.5 million addicts in the country, 10% of whom are women. The drug abuse problem is a major source of concern as Iran continues to battle the drug mafia and the transit through the country of large quantities of narcotics from neighboring Afghanistan, the world’s opium capital, bound for Europe and the US.
