Iran’s Health Minister Urges Legal Opium Cultivation for Medical Use
Iran’s Health Minister, Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, has called on authorities to enact legislation permitting the legal cultivation of opium to secure essential ingredients for producing pain relief medications. He warned that reduced access to raw materials from Afghanistan has brought Iran’s pharmaceutical industry to a critical point.
Speaking at a session of the Planning and Development Council in Kerman province, Zafarghandi stressed that strong painkillers like morphine and pethidine are vital for hospital care. He emphasized that the absence of these drugs disrupts patient treatment and urged that a swift solution be found.
According to the minister, Iran previously imported most of its raw materials for pain medication from Afghanistan. However, due to recent restrictions imposed by Afghan authorities, that supply has essentially been cut off. Zafarghandi stated that Afghanistan’s public health officials have formally informed Iran that they will no longer permit the transfer of these materials.
The Iranian health minister said the only sustainable way to secure medical narcotics is through domestic production. He added that opium cultivation should be carried out solely for medical purposes and under strict regulation, including oversight by security and judicial bodies.
Although opium cultivation for medical use has been banned in Iran for years, officials note that it remains a key component in many pain-relief medications. Iran has been a signatory to the International Narcotics Control Convention since 1961, and any poppy cultivation must be conducted under close supervision.
The dwindling supply of raw materials from Afghanistan highlights a broader issue: how the Taliban’s stringent policies and lack of transparent engagement with regional countries can negatively impact the regional pharmaceutical supply chain.
