But this isn’t just about opium. Alongside well-established substances that also include hashish and alcohol are more modern and post-modern drugs such as heroin, crack and crystal meth, which in Persian is called shisheh or “glass”. Iran has a huge youth population– the average age is 25 for women and 24 for men – and an underground party scene is enjoyed by many in the urban, secularised and well-off younger generation. In 2012, Iran was the world’s fourth highest importer of pseudoephedrin, used to make crystal meth.
