The Department of Strategic Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at the University of Baghdad held a scientific workshop tagged “The global political and economic dimension in the spread of the drug phenomenon and their reflection on social security.”
Dr. Ayman Ahmed Mohammed, Head of the Department, said in his research paper delivered on the sidelines of the workshop that the spread of the phenomenon of drug trafficking and abuse has increased significantly in the past few years, especially in countries that suffer from a state of political turmoil, lawlessness and the failure of the ruling authorities to take the necessary measures to reduce it.
He added that the cost of international and local measures to combat the spread of drugs, raise awareness of their harms, and treat addicts, is estimated at $ 120 billion annually, and the drug trade represents 8% of the total global trade.
He continued, “In Iraq, the problem of the spread of drugs has increased, reaching record limits in terms of the rates of abuse among young people and the spread of the phenomenon of its trade widely, which enters the country in a more serious dilemma than terrorism.”