The head of the Department of AIDS Control at the ministry of health and medical education, referring to the dangers of drug abuse among youth, called for participation from all concerned organizations, particularly the Red Crescent, to assist the Drug Control Headquarters (DCH) “in wide-spread and sustained public education on the issue.”
Dr. Abbas Sedaghat suggested employing social networks as a medium for reaching out to the youth. Applauding the call by the ministry of interior and the secretary general of the DCH for social participation to tackle the growing problem of drug abuse, he emphasized the importance of comprehensive and wide spread education of the youth to spread awareness about the risks of drug abuse and its prevention. He said the Red Crescent, which has a large number of youth volunteers, can make a huge contribution in this regard, ILNA reported.
Referring to the illegal drug trade in Iran, he said: “It is unfortunate that, like everywhere else, whenever drug control programs target a particular drug, the illegal traders supply other types of harmful substances.”
Deceitful Means
Although several preventive programs have been undertaken by the DCH in the last decade to tackle heroin and cocaine abuse, the drug dealers have “now turned to addictive prescription drugs which are cheaper and easier to sell.”
The drug distributors use deceitful means to sell addictive drugs, he said, pointing out that some drug sellers advertise them as weight loss medicine to women, or as a way of improving memory and concentration, to students. The drugs are also advertised as a way of boosting confidence or as antidepressants. “They claim the drugs are not addictive, when in fact they make the consumers dependant after using them just once,” Sedaghat noted.
He also warned about “the increasing rate of alcohol abuse” and said physical and psychological health problems such as anxiety, depression and impairment in a person’s critical thinking are some consequences of alcohol abuse.
Drug abuse often leads to health and social problems, morbidity, injuries, unprotected sex, violence, deaths, motor vehicle accidents, homicides, suicides, physical dependence or psychological addiction, he added.
