National strategy to combat Drugs in Iraq

Abstract

The drug problem in Iraq is one of the dangers surrounding society, and has been classified as a primary danger since 2022, surpassing terrorist threats that have remained a primary danger since 2006. Therefore, this paper tends  to present a strategic plan as an attempt to contribute to the process of combating drugs, as the researcher is a member of the National Drug Study Team since 2017 and has conducted many research projects in this field. The research has been launched from a basic goal, which is to try to present a national plan to combat drugs in Iraq, followed by a set of questions, the most prominent of which were (Can we combat drugs in Iraq and reduce their danger? Where do we start the process of combating drugs? Are security efforts sufficient in this direction? How can we recruit all the capabilities of the government, society and the legislative institution in the process of combating drugs?) After surveying  the available statistics and relying on the studies conducted by the researcher previously and after holding a series of workshops with the parties interested in the subject, the research has come out with a plan that we can consider as a strategic plan to combat drugs in Iraq, embodied in a set of recommendations that we can summarize as follows:

 1-Declaring war on drugs at the national level, and the government, parliament and society contribute to this war .

2-There is a need for legislative intervention that includes amending Law (50) to combat drugs, financial allocations in the general budget, and forming a parliamentary committee concerned with the issue of drugs.-3-At the governmental level, amending the structure of the Drug Control Directorate to the level of an agency linked to the Prime Minister's Office, establishing a national center, building hospitals for treating addicts, and directing all state agencies to submit their plans to contribute to combating the proposals. A set of steps were proposed for these institutions.

4-At the community level, working to support government agencies and provide full support to them, and the contribution of religious institutions with guidance, as well as the contribution of tribal men and everyone who can contribute to this, especially in the issue of social stigma for addicts and their families and encouraging them to go for treatment.

5-The need to deal with the problem from a technological perspective, as we can contribute to providing advice, guidance, and treatment methods through electronic applications or remote guidance through specialized doctors to get rid of the problem of social stigma.