Iran to legalise opium for pharmaceutical purposes
Banned in the 1979 after the Islamic Revolution, opium cultivation could be legalised again by Iran’s parliament. Supporters argue it is necessary for critical drug production, while opponents accuse the government of seeking profits. The goal is to increase production from 450 tonnes per year to about 1,000 tonnes.
Tehran (AsiaNews) – Iran is considering legalising opium cultivation for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a controversial move that officials say is necessary to ensure pharmaceutical supplies, but critics say it is merely profit-driven.
The administration led by President Masoud Pezeshkian is pushing to add provisions regarding domestic poppy cultivation and state-controlled opium distribution to proposed legislation currently under consideration in Iran’s parliament (Majles).
The proposals would overturn Iran's 46-year ban on production and return the country to legal cultivation under international supervision.
The plan has sparked controversy among government agencies, raised doubts about the Islamic Republic's actual pharmaceutical needs, and exposed contradictions in officials' statements about what the country intends to grow.
Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi launched the idea of legalising cultivation during a meeting of the Planning and Development Council in Kerman Province on 20 November. The minister urged members of the Majles to approve the necessary regulations, especially at a time of shortages of even essential medicines.
“In our country, we have certain medicines without which we cannot function, and many of their raw materials used to come from Afghanistan and were processed in our factories. Now these raw materials no longer arrive, and we need a law that would allow us to cultivate opium,” Zafarghandi said.
His statement followed similar comments made by Pezeshkian, who met with members of the Majles Legal and Judiciary Committee and officials from Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters (DCHQ) on 6 October to discuss amending the drug control law.
The president proposed a two-pronged approach that includes legal access to drugs, eliminating black-market demand, and intensifying crackdowns on illegal traffic and distribution.
The proposal marks a major shift in Iran's drug policy. The country banned opium cultivation in 1979 and has relied on drug imports ever since, as well as seizures, to supply its pharmaceutical industry.
The Majles Research Centre strongly opposes the proposal. In a published report, it questions the government's justifications and suggests hidden economic motives, accusing certain officials of inflating demand to justify expanding poppy cultivation.
According to the study, Iran's pharmaceutical companies have obtained an annual average of 450 to 460 tonnes of opium over the past decade. Government officials now claim the country needs 1,000 tonnes annually, more than double the previous requirement.
Complicating matters, several government agencies have provided conflicting information about the type of poppy the country intends to cultivate, further contributing to the confusion.
The Ministry of Health and its Food and Drugs division have openly supported opium cultivation and the removal of current legal obstacles.
The DCHQ insists that the government plans to grow a different variety, not the traditional poppy.
Afghanistan is not the world's only source of pharmaceutical opium, and many major drug-manufacturing countries do not grow poppies domestically.
At least 15 nations are permitted to grow poppies under the supervision of the International Narcotics Control Board, a United Nations body.
Iran’s neighbours Turkey and India both produce opium. Other licensed producers are Australia, France, Spain, Hungary, Czechia, Poland, Estonia, Romania, North Macedonia, and China.
Major pharmaceutical powers – including the United States, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, Singapore, and Canada – have banned domestic cultivation and import pharmaceutical opium from countries with legal cultivation permits.
This international picture suggests that Afghanistan's unreliability alone may not make domestic cultivation necessary. Iran could potentially secure pharmaceutical opium from other licenced producers if its neighbour becomes an unreliable supplier, especially as production has been hampered since the Taliban's return to power in the summer of 2021.
Meanwhile, Iran has used strategic reserves to offset the reduction in seizures and imports in recent years, raising concerns about the sustainability of supplies.
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03/11/2022 13:54
