VZCZCXRO8040
PP RUEHBC RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHDE #1452/01 0731252
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 141252Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9094
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 2024
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DUBAI 001452 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/14/2016 
TAGS: PGOV SNAR SOCI IR
SUBJECT: NEEDLES FOR PRISONERS, AND OTHER DRUG UPDATES FROM IRAN 
 
REF: A) 04 DUBAI 5089;  B)  DUBAI 528 
 
DUBAI 00001452  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jason L Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
1.(C) Summary:  Iran's Judiciary Chief approved a new program to 
provide needles in certain prisons to try to stem the spread of 
HIV/AIDS. In doing so, Iran is admitting that there are drugs in 
prisons. The new mayor of Tehran is trying to move addicts off 
the streets and into designated prisons called "boot camps."  No 
change in Iran's drug policy or cooperation with U.S. 
universities on drug addiction programs has been noted to date 
under the new administration.  End summary 
 
Needles for prisoners 
--------------------- 
 
2.(C) According to press reports citing Deputy head of State 
Prisons Organization for Health and Rehabilitation Parviz 
Afshar, Iranian prisons will institute a new program of 
supplying needles in 10 prisons in the new year (i.e. starting 
March 21.) A senior official with the Iranian National Center 
for Addiction Studies confirmed the report to PolEconChief, 
saying Judiciary Chief Mahmoud Shahrudi gave permission for the 
needle-syringe program (NSP). (Note: NSP differs from needle 
exchange in that NSP does not require old needles to be turned 
in). The official commented that Shahrudi has been 
forward-leaning in reforms related to drug addiction, though not 
in other areas. He also said Afshar was a colleague and had done 
good work on addiction programs for prisoners. (As noted Ref B, 
it is not uncommon for 100-1000 inmates to share a single needle 
in Iranian prisons.) 
 
3.(C) The official said that out of 200 prisons in Iran, 20 have 
anti-addiction programs with a total of 2000 participants. 
Prisoners are tested for HIV/AIDS only voluntarily, and the test 
results are not shared with prison authorities. HIV positive 
prisoners can receive antiviral medicines from in-house clinics. 
 
 
Condoms another issue 
--------------------- 
 
4.(C) According to the official, the decision to allow an NSP 
was politically difficult, because it necessitated an admission 
that there are drugs in prisons. On the other hand, condoms are 
not available in prisons, other than in so-called "religious 
meeting rooms," where conjugal visits are allowed between 
married couples. (Note: according to the official, conjugal 
visits used to be offered as a reward for good behavior but are 
now considered a right for any married prisoner.)  Distribution 
of condoms anywhere other than in those rooms would be an 
admission that homosexual behavior occurs in prison. The 
official said that in Iran, dealing with issues related to drug 
abuse is much easier than dealing with homosexuality, which 
remains taboo. 
 
Law Enforcement 
--------------- 
 
5.(C) The official mentioned that Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer 
Qalibaf is spearheading a campaign to get addicts off the 
streets before the Iranian New Year holiday of Noruz on March 
¶21.  He said the municipality wants to set up new "bootcamps" to 
house them but that funds are limited.  The official described a 
 boot camp as a special prison housing only individuals 
convicted of drug use.  Normally, the sentence would be for a 
few months, with drug addiction treatment included.  He said 
drug addicts would not be sent to boot camps extra-judicially. 
The goal would be to take drug users out of the regular prison 
system, thereby reducing overcrowding (and possibly the spread 
of HIV/AIDS).  The official said he and other health officials 
working on addiction programs oppose the notion of boot camps, 
because they are very expensive and drug addicts do not respond 
well to forced treatment.  He thought the money would be better 
spent on voluntary outpatient clinic care and shelters. 
 
6.(C) 2005 press reports (Ref A) indicated that the judiciary 
wanted to change sentencing guidelines to reduce the number of 
drug users, as opposed to drug distributors, in prison; this 
official said no such changes have been introduced yet. 
 
7.(C) Throughout Iran, there are both government and private 
drug addiction clinics.  Private clinics are allowed as a result 
of a 1997 amendment legalizing drug treatment.  The official 
said people tend to trust the confidentiality and the quality of 
private clinics more than government clinics, but in reality all 
 
DUBAI 00001452  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
doctors are bound by rules of patient confidentiality.  They do 
not release the names of their clients to the police unless 
ordered to by a judge.  According to the official, 200,000 
people sought drug addiction treatment in 2005 at clinics in 
Iran. 
 
8.(C) When asked about corruption among law enforcement 
officials, the Center for Addiction Studies official said some 
of his patients have been soldiers who did their military 
service in the police.  They claimed that on occasion they were 
told not to bother certain caravans.  However, in the view of 
the health official, corruption facilitating drug trafficking 
occurs principally at low levels of authority.  He said police 
can arrest anyone suspected of using drugs without a warrant, 
and then test their urine for drugs.  That said, police do not 
tend to make general sweeps but to target people in areas known 
as congregating points for addicts.  He believes the government 
probably has at times used drug charges as an excuse to jail 
political dissidents such as journalists but did not think this 
occurred often. 
 
No Change in Policy 
------------------- 
 
9.(C) The official told us he had not seen any change in drug 
policy under Ahmadinejad, but that he expects that the increased 
presence of former IRGC in the new government will lead to a 
greater emphasis on interdiction. He said the army would not 
directly profit from any shifting of resources, since the 
police, not the military, carries out interdiction.  Relations 
between the police and the military, however, tend to be close. 
He also medical-related policies in Iran tend to be apolitical, 
as bureaucrats in the Ministry of Health face problems from the 
Majles if they ignore medical expert recommendations. 
 
10.(C) When asked his assessment of the new secretary of the 
Drug Control Headquarters, Fada-Hussein Maleki, he said it has 
become clearer over time that Maleki is in favor of treatment as 
well as interdiction policies (Ref A). 
 
11.(C) He also remarked that to date, he has not heard of any 
pressure from the government to cut university-to-university 
ties with American institutions.  The official, on his way to 
meetings in the U.S., mentioned that if his workload permits it, 
he is planning a year's fellowship next year at a U.S. 
university. 
 
General Update 
-------------- 
 
12.(C) Drug addiction clinics in Iran are called "triangular 
clinics," because their mandate includes counseling and 
treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and drug 
abuse. Clients for the triangular clinics outside of prisons in 
Iran are generally in their 20's and 30's and include some 
prostitutes, which the official says remains a very sensitive 
subject. Young people still smoke opium, the traditional drug of 
Iran, but also use other heroin-based drugs, including a 
heroin-based form of crack, as well as other amphetamine and 
synthetic drugs.  The official said he has heard from patients 
that some synthetic drugs are produced inside Iran. 
 
13.(C) The average age of those beginning to inject drugs is 26, 
higher than in many countries, according to the official, 
because the typical road to injecting drugs is longer. 
Typically, an Iranian intravenous drug user starts by smoking 
opium (2-4 grams/day), then begins eating opium (4-5 grams/day), 
then moves on to "shira" or opium juice, which is more 
concentrated.  He/she then switches to sniffing heroin and only 
then progresses to shooting up. 
 
14.(C) The official said that in many places in the south, such 
as around Bam, up to 10% of the population is involved in the 
drug trade.  Opium continues to be treated in many places like 
alcohol is in the west - parents use it, but tell their children 
not to.  It is sometimes smoked at social events like weddings. 
 
15.(C) When asked about drug use among officials, the official 
said it is known that former President Khatami's father used 
opium but had no information about high-level officials.  He 
said there are rumors the Supreme Leader uses opium as a 
painkiller for the injuries he sustained in an assassination 
attempt but indicated he had no information to confirm it.  He 
mentioned there are private clinics that cater to society's 
elite.  The Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies has 
trained about 500 Iranian doctors in addiction treatment, he 
added; the center is also offering training to doctors in other 
countries of the region. 
 
DUBAI 00001452  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
16.(C) When asked whether he thought programming via private 
U.S.-based Farsi-language satellite channels on 12-step type 
drug programs has been useful inside Iran, the health official 
said he believed it was useful for some, but not for hard-core 
users. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
17.(C) This health official appears very dedicated to his 
profession and basically apolitical -- apart from being pleased 
that so far, the new government has not reduced support for drug 
treatment programs in Iran.  He is not involved in drug 
interdiction, and so has little access to information on that 
issue, other than what he hears anecdotally from colleagues or 
patients. 
DAVIS