Iran plans to set up five new rehabilitation centers to treat thousands of drug addicts in the provinces of Isfahan, Kerman, Khorasan, Sistan-Baluchestan, and Tehran, PressTV reported.
"Nearly 600 billion rials ($60 million) has been allocated to constructing the rehabilitation centers. Addicts who are introduced by their families will also receive medical treatment to kick the habit and receive vocational training," Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said on Wednesday, IRNA reported.
Mohammad-Najjar, who also is chief of the anti-drug taskforce, noted that at least 36,000 inmates serving time for drug-related offenses would be moved to new camps.
"Expanding international cooperation is high on the taskforce's agenda in order to curb drug abuse. Since the primary source of production of illegal drugs is in Afghanistan, international measures are needed to address this problem," he noted.
Iran has for long led international efforts to fight this social scourge.
According to figures released by the United Nations, Iran ranks first among states striving to prevent the entry of drugs on or through their territory.
The United Nations credits Iran with the seizure of 80 percent of the opium netted around the world.
Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and the West and has spent billions of dollars and lost more than 3,700 security forces in the unending war on drugs since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Iran plans to set up 5 drug rehab centers
Iran plans to set up five new rehabilitation centers to treat thousands of drug addicts in the provinces of Isfahan, Kerman, Khorasan, Sistan-Baluchestan, and Tehran, PressTV reported.
