Iran expert warns of link between war, instability, and drug addiction

Mehran Zarghami, the scientific secretary of the 19th Addiction Knowledge Congress, has highlighted the critical link between war, instability, and drug addiction. Speaking at the congress, Zarghami noted that psychological pressures such as increased anxiety, insomnia, grief, insecurity, and a sense of helplessness may drive individuals toward substance use as a temporary coping mechanism.

Social factors including unemployment, poverty, population displacement, family disintegration, and reduced social support also contribute to increased drug consumption or relapse. Furthermore, conflict can alter drug markets by changing the availability, price, type, purity, and smuggling routes of substances. Zarghami cautioned that this does not necessarily mean a uniform increase in consumption, but rather a shift toward potentially more dangerous consumption patterns.

Zarghami emphasized the urgent need for a rapid monitoring system, noting that there is currently a lack of reliable national epidemiological data regarding how war specifically impacts drug consumption patterns in the country. The 19th Addiction Knowledge Congress, themed ‘War, Instability, and Addiction: The Necessity of Scientific and Social Responses,’ is scheduled to be held from October 21 to October 23 at the Razi Convention Center of the Iran University of Medical Sciences.