The World Drug Report frequently cites Iran as having one of the highest levels of heroin addiction in the world. Officially, Iran has 2 million drug addicts but experts agree that the real figure is significantly higher. The country’s position along the Afghanistan-Europe heroin trafficking routes and stigma among its poorer communities around alcohol are oft-cited reasons for Iran’s centuries-old drug problem. But rising unemployment, high inflation and a currency that has lost over half its value since sanctions were placed on Iran at the start of 2011 have compounded the crisis.
