Opium in Iran

Opium in Iran is widely available, and the country has been estimated to have the highest per capita number of opioid addicts in the world[1][2] at a rate of 2.8% of Iranians over age 15.

Ghiabi describes this change: “welfare priorities focused on religiously sanctioned areas of the social body, while Islamic/Khomeinist ideology demobilized humanitarian intervention for those deemed deviant.

The political and religious establishment adopted a fierce rhetoric against drug users, accusing them of moral deviancy, anti-revolutionary behavior and westoxification (gharbzadegi)("Chah kasi").”[10] The Islamic Republic employed a specific rhetorical strategy in its efforts to eliminate opium—specifically, drawing comparisons and associating alcohol with opium.

Ghiabi highlights how this position on opium was distinct to post-revolutionary rhetoric, and not the standard in Iran’s history of Islamic law.

Indeed, the clerical approach to drugs before the revolution was remarkable for its lack of condemnation, even more so in view of the widespread use of waqf lands in the opium economy up to the mid-twentieth century”.

During his time as the judge of the revolutionary courts, Khalkhali led an aggressive campaign against opium, establishing a new range of punishments for all levels of opium-related crimes.

To accomplish this end, “public executions and TV confessions were employed as means of deterrence and education for the populace, signaling a change in the technology of power in relation to punishment.

Lisanseha, a comedy show, presents numerous comments and social critiques on the pervasive and destructive effects of drugs in Iranian society.

After quietly making this comment, he is approached from all sides as the street floods with cyclists and cars, all of whom are indicated to be drug dealers soliciting their products.

[citation needed] In 2018, the Islamic Republic of Iran's Chief Justice issued a judicial order that modified the nation's stringent laws regarding drug trafficking.