Abdulreza Rahmani Fazli announced that the rate of female addicts has doubled. Pointing to new issues raised at the Vienna summit, he said: “The two issues focused on in the summit by European, South American and Central Asian countries which have been put on their agenda until 2016 to be ratified as a United Nations convention, are the elimination of execution for drug offenders and the legalization of drug use.”
The Interior Minister said: “We have obstructed both issues because when we say these individuals must be executed, it is in accordance to the law of our country.”
Pointing to the number of addicts in the country, he said: “According to the current compiled figure, people who constantly use narcotics make almost 1.325.000 addicts in the country. In some cases the number has been announced as 2 million. Figures show that in the last two years, the number of female addicts has doubled.”
In reference to a meeting on chastity and veiling, Rahmani Fazli said: “The first meeting of the social council will be held next year to discuss the issue of chastity and veiling. According to some reports, members of parliament and authorities are concerned about veiling and we hope to witness an improvement in the situation by spreading awareness and giving notifications.”
(State-run Tabnak Website- Mar. 20, 2014)