Opium leads the list of the most used drugs in Iran, Iranian Presidential Drug Enforcement Administration Executive Director Masud Zahedyan was quoted as saying this week by the Mehr news agency.
According to Zahedyan, pills containing psychotropic substances rank second in terms of cheapness and ease of use.
"The addiction of society to drugs, especially youths, is an alarm for the country," he said.
According to Zahedyan, youths become drug addicts as they use narcotics for alleged purposes of rejuvenation and weight loss and to deal with psychological issues.
"Opium, heroin, ecstasy, cannabis and cocaine are the most widely used drugs in Iran and this worries officials and the country's relevant structures," he added.
According to Zahedyan, the country is taking serious measures to prevent drug use.
"The ministries of education and culture and the relevant structures operating in the cultural sphere should take serious measures to educate the public. We must turn the fight against drugs into a nationwide struggle," he added.
According to the official statistics, about 1.7 million people are drug users in Iran and 33 percent of them use opium, Fars reported.