Iran - not everything is bad about it.....

"We don't want to fight addicts; we want to fight addiction."

Those were the words of MUHAMMAD-REZA JAHANI, vice president for the Committee Combating Drugs in Iran — the only Islamic country, according to the UN, that has coordinated efforts to fight drug addiction and trafficking (TIME, 2008).

On a daily basis, the Iran nuclear debacle captures the international headlines on virtually every newspaper and news channel. I clearly was not aware that Iran has a special task force to combat drug addiction. Even Malaysia does not have a special drug task force given the increasing number of drug addicts and AIDS cases from needle sharing.

Globally, drug addiction and drug trafficking has been increasing throughout the years. It is inherently becoming a huge problem given that the organisations behind these drug activities are organised crime groups that are well managed and are able to cover their tracks and keep their noses clean in the eyes of the public.

Coming back to the quote above, it is truly a surprise that it was never highlighted that Iran is the only Islamic country with a special drug task force. This clearly proves one point - global media are mainly interest in pointing out faults and negative points to provide interesting stories (i.e. focus is on maintaining viewers and Internet hits).

This really brings about a point that what is being protrayed or told by a third party may not necessarily be the only truth about something. Take a step deeper into a situation, person or place and you might find out other truths that may be positive. As for the Iranian drug task force, I believe it should be followed by Malaysia and other countries as well. Drug addiction is not a national problem, it is a global problem. If every country can put their hands together and tighten their guards on drug trafficking, drug addiction and truly be eridicated!