Status: December 20, 2021 02:38 a.m.
Fighters brought crystal meth to Iraq – now the drug is destroying the lives of young men en masse who want to forget their worries. Experts warn: a tenth of the population is already dependent.
Hussein just wanted to forget his worries. Worries about unemployment, poverty and a lack of prospects that threatened to overwhelm the 22-year-old Iraqi. He revealed himself to a friend who suggested he try crystal meth and got him the drug. “The effect was intense, I was happy for a short time,” he says. “But none of my problems were solved.” On the contrary: Now they are much bigger than before. Even after the first consumption, Hussein was addicted, could hardly concentrate, behaved aggressively and became violent, as he admits. He gave up his education studies and is now left with nothing.
A case like there are now millions in Iraq. Basra is considered a hotspot for drug use. Despite the oil wealth, the metropolis in the south of the country is falling into disrepair. Poverty and unemployment are high, the air is dirty and the drinking water is polluted. The administration is seen as inefficient and corrupt, and the proceeds from the oil business are less likely to trickle away into their pockets. The drug trade alone is flourishing. Probably also because the border with Iran is close and permeable. At the big neighbor’s, the synthetic drug is produced and exported in huge quantities under the eyes of the mullahs.
“Available anywhere”
Crystal meth is not cheap. A gram costs the equivalent of a good 40 euros. But there are also cheaper, adulterated drugs in circulation with even more severe side effects. According to investigators, 50 to 60 people are arrested in Basra every week for trafficking and using illegal drugs. For the most part, it’s about crystal meth. “It was available everywhere and in large quantities,” says Hussein. False friends would have encouraged him to keep taking more and more until his body sounded the alarm at some point. The rehabilitation centers are full of addicts. Most of them are between 18 and 30 years old, including schoolchildren.
Enass Kareem sensed the trend in her classes. The biology teacher wondered why some students often had glassy eyes, rotten teeth, were not focused, and responded aggressively. At some point she realized that the kids were addicted to crystal meth. She started a Facebook page to publicize the problem. In Basra, as in the rest of the country, it is often hushed up. Many of those affected and their friends and relatives then contacted her. Kareem quickly realized that the dimension was enormous: “The government is to blame for not doing enough education,” she says. She is involved in the aid organization “Drug-Free Iraq” to warn and to help.
Militias brought in the drug
It all started with militias close to Iran using crystal meth in the fight against the terrorist militia IS in 2014 in order to stay awake longer, not to get hungry during the fighting, to suppress fears. Crystal meth was known as the “drug used by freedom fighters.” This started the rise of crystal meth in Iraq – to this day the drug is brought into the country by militias, the government does not oppose it.
Investigators now assume that one in ten Iraqis is a drug addict. From January to September alone, 19 million pills were confiscated. The United Nations believes in a report that the problem will be the greatest challenge facing the crisis-ridden country – and it threatens to have an impact on the economy. A vicious circle, because the unemployed could be the drug addicts of tomorrow.
Hussein knows about the destructive power of crystal meth. He has tried again and again to get away from the synthetic drug, and he has relapsed again and again. After treatment in a rehabilitation center, he is now clean, but still mentally dependent. “My body got used to the drug a long time ago,” he says.