IRAQ: Traumatised young Iraqis turn increasingly to hard drugs

[bemildred]

KERBALA, 11 October (IRIN) - Khalid Hussein, a 22-year-old university drop-out, is a heroin addict, just like his Dad. And with his father's blessing he sells the drug on the streets of Kerbala to support his family.

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"In the beginning I found the idea strange, but today I feel comfortable doing it because at the same time as I'm earning my own money, I'm also using the drug and it helps me forget the terror that has descended on our lives since the foreigners took over our country," Hussein said.

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And drug pushers told IRIN they had found a lucrative market amongst soldiers in the US-led occupation forces. They report strong demand from Italian troops in particular.

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The street price of a gramme of heroin has jumped from US $15 before the US-led invasion two years ago to between $20 and $25 today. And there is no shortage of Iraqi consumers.

IRIN via Reuters

[Hobarticus]

1. Which will come from Afghanistan...where freedom also reigns!

Ain't codependency great?!?

[blm]

2. Typical strategy for any problem areas occupied by BushInc.

Keep the young and disenfranchised doped up and dumbed down.

[Fovea]

11. And in Jail

the big triple whammy that keeps on giving.

[TomClash]

3. And who's the dealer?

Gee, I wonder. :think:

[Dr Fate]

6. Either a black dude or a guy with long hair. n/t

n/t

[tatertop]

4. Do they shoot this up or smoke it?

How long does a gram last?

[Dr Fate]

5. Another reason to ban Rush from Armed Forces Radio: A bad role-model

n/t

[sakabatou]

7. Another Opium War coming?

[bemildred]

8. I dunno about that, but I'd bet this is funding the war in Afghanistan. nt

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. Golly...

Another way that this damned war is Just Like The Nam.

You can bet they start out smoking it or snorting it. But that soon changes.

[acmejack]

10. Yes most start smoking it.

You could buy the Kools ready to go with the H already in them. Used to be able to tell, the white guys would have a pack of Marlboros and a pack of Kools, the Black guys would have two packs of Kools.It was so addictive that just 2 or 3 times would hook them. I assume this stuff is as pure as the China White was.

[MADem]

20. In the shah days, in Iran, the addicts had these red cards

that they carried like a license. They could go to the pharmacy and show the card to get their fixes, thus there was no drug problem there....

[willing dwarf]

12. Capitalism at work in the global market place.

The powers that be turn on and off the flow of drugs where ever they want, whenever they want. It's almost all determined by need to chill people out, tighten control, capture free floating dollars.

If the young people of Iraq and young soldiers are shattered, it's because the war has shattered them. But I'm sure we'll be told we should blame the victims yet again .

[willing dwarf]

13. delete: repeat!

[Zhade]

14. We're destroying so many lives every day we're there.

Bring them home NOW!

[tanyev]

15. Losing hearts and minds.

[Megahurtz]

16. Just Trying to Cope. n/t

[Xithras]

17. Wait till the resistance starts spiking the drugs.

A little LSD added to the heroin supply a few days before an offensive could swing a battle.

[Nihil]

23. Alternatively ...

... a little grass added to the tobacco supply and they'd agree to
skip the battle altogether ...

[all.of.me]

18. "a lucrative market amongst soldiers"

another viet nam parallel....

[Rex]

19. The BFEE owns Afghanistan and Iraq.

Easy money.

[cassiepriam]

21. The damage we have done to the Iraqi people will last for generations.

[leftchick]

22. drug addicts in Iraqi Security Ranks as well

what a surprise....

<snip>

But today it is quite common to see young men snorting heroin in deserted areas of waste ground in Baghdad or even in the streets.

They show little fear of the government security forces, which now have appear to have many drug addicts in their own ranks.

"They cannot do anything to us," Abu Ali, one drug dealer in Baghdad told IRIN.

"Sometimes you even find members of the Iraqi army or the police looking for us to buy some of this great white powder which makes you fly to another planet," he added.