21 hours ago
Kurdistan marks International Anti-Drug Day as narcotics crisis deepens
Shafaq News – al-Sulaymaniyah
The Kurdistan Region observed the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Thursday with a wide-scale scientific and awareness conference in al-Sulaymaniyah, as officials raised alarm over the growing reach of narcotics within Kurdish society.
The event, organized with broad governmental and civic participation, focused on confronting what organizers described as a fast-spreading crisis threatening the social fabric—particularly among the youth. Kozhin Othman, coordinator of the conference, said the initiative is part of a long-term strategy to promote public awareness and curb the spread of drugs through education and institutional cooperation.
Speaking during the event, Kurdistan's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Kwestan Mohamad, warned that Kurdistan—once virtually drug-free, like the rest of Iraq —has since 2003 experienced a dramatic and troubling shift. She cautioned that the Region has become a central corridor linking major drug producers in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to markets extending from neighboring countries to as far as Canada.
In May alone, authorities reportedly arrested 5,746 people across the Region in connection with various crimes, with 1,576—over 27 percent—linked to drug-related offenses, including 81 women.
