http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/world/middleeast/21drugs.html?_r=1em
Prescription Drug Abuse Rises Among Iraqi Troops
Max Becherer/Polaris, for The New York Times
Mustafah Saleh went to a doctor’s office in Baghdad for Artane. He
said he became addicted after being prescribed the drug to combat the
side effects of schizophrenia medicine.
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By MUDHAFER AL-HUSAINI and ERICA GOODE
Published: December 20, 2008
BAGHDAD — For an Iraqi Army soldier patrolling Baghdad’s unpredictable
streets, each 12-hour shift is an exercise in terror and uncertainty.
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So Ahmed Qasim pops a small white tablet called Artane to help him
through his duties.
“For me, it helps me to get the job done,” he said. “I can’t bear
working without taking Artane. It makes me happy and high, but I still
can control myself.”
The abuse of prescription drugs, widely available in Iraq on the black
market and through private pharmacies, has significantly increased
since 2003, doctors and other health specialists say, nourished by the
stresses of the war and the lack of strict government regulation.
Dealers do a brisk business in tranquilizers, painkillers and other
drugs, specialists say, and drug abuse is a problem in the prisons and
among Iraqis who live in poor neighborhoods or who are unemployed.
But in recent years, Iraqi soldiers and police officers have also
turned to drugs to ease the stresses of their jobs. In particular,
they are abusing Artane, a medication that is used to treat
Parkinson’s disease and that can have euphoric effects when used in
high doses.
“They believe that this Artane allows them to become courageous, to
become brave,” said one doctor, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. about the
issue.
“They take it so that there is no anxiety, no fear,” he said, “so they
can break down doors and enter houses with no shame.”
No clear evidence exists that the misuse of prescription drugs has a
significant effect on how soldiers and police officers perform their
duties. Nor are any figures available on how widespread drug abuse is
in the security forces or whether most of those who use the drugs do
so daily.
But Mr. Qasim, 26, estimated that one out of three soldiers in his
army unit take Artane or other drugs while on duty. Jalal Ammar, 45,
an Iraqi police officer, said “probably 30 percent” of the police
officers he worked with used Artane and other medications. Dr. Amir al-
Haidari, the manager of drug addiction programs for the Ministry of
Health of Iraq, said that alcohol abuse was once a bigger problem than
prescription drug abuse, “but after the American invasion of Iraq,
alcohol became limited because of the security situation and religious
restraints.”
Now, he said, “the long duties, the suicide attacks and the killing
are all factors that drive the security forces members toward Artane
and other drugs.”
Dr. Haidari added that the Health Ministry had begun a campaign to
close private pharmacies that sell drugs illegally and to place more
restrictions on prescriptions. He said the problem was no worse in the
security forces than among civilians.
The ministry, Dr. Haidari said, is also trying to open more treatment
centers for addicts. Only one hospital in Iraq, Ibn Rushid psychiatric
hospital in central Baghdad, has a ward devoted to treating alcohol
and drug abuse.
Gen. Ahmed al-Khafaji, an official at the Interior Ministry concerned
with police affairs, denied that drug abuse was a significant issue
among Iraqi police officers.
“We don’t accept any kind of addiction within the security forces or
our troops from the police,” he said, adding that any police officer
who was found to abuse drugs “will be dismissed from our ministry
forever.”
Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta of the Iraqi military said that the soldiers in
Baghdad “have very good mental health and high spirits.”
Asked about the abuse of prescription drugs, he said, “Maybe there are
some negative points here and there, but you cannot generalize based
on such cases.”
On the street, Artane, Valium and other drugs are known by nicknames,
including “the capsule,” “the eyebrow” and “the cross.” Mr. Ammar said
that when police officers talked among themselves about the drugs,
they referred to them as “appetizers” or “takeout.”
Drug use is forbidden in the Iraqi security forces, but Mr. Qasim said
that soldiers took drugs discreetly and that “everyone in the army
knows about it.”
Still, he said, “you can’t take them clearly in front of the officers.”
Qais, the owner of a private drugstore who would give only his first
name because his activities are illegal, says that he sells Artane and
other
