NEED TO KNOW
DISCOVERIES
One Too Many
Despite draconian laws regulating the consumption and production of alcohol in Iran, citizens of this pious nation have easy access to networks that can get them a drink of the hard stuff whenever they like.
After decades of ignoring the rise of Iranians imbibing, the nation is finally admitting it has a drinking problem, the New York Times reports.
Alcohol has been banned since 1979 in Iran, but that hasn’t stopped Iranians from using the social lubricant. While official statistics show that at least 10 percent of the population drinks alcohol, domestic news reports claim that those in Iran who do drink indulge even more so than vodka and beer lovers in Russia and Germany.
Now, with the government’s consent, Alcoholics Anonymous groups, modeled after those in the US, have been established to help addicts. Drinkers used to be lashed and punished almost as severely as bootleggers, but the government has slowly softened its stance on a problem long hidden from the public eye.
“These days there is so much alcohol available, simply punishing everybody and using force is no longer working,” said Reza Konjedi, 36, a former alcoholic who runs several new Alcoholics Anonymous support groups in Tehran. “Now, security officials, the municipality, they all view alcoholics not as criminals, but as patients who need treatment.”
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