Opiates of the Iranian People:
Despair Drives World's Highest Addiction Rate
By Karl Vick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, September 23, 2005; Page A01
................."According to the U.N. World Drug Report for 2005,
Iran has the highest proportion of opiate addicts in the world -- 2.8 percent of the population over age 15. Only two other countries -- Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan -- pass the 2 percent mark. With a population of about 70 million and some government agencies putting the number of regular users close to 4 million, Iran has no real competition as world leader in per capita addiction to opiates, including heroin."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092202287.html