I wish we could have just opium. But with 350 laboratories [Afghan drug producers] are converting opium to heroin and crystal," he said. Crystal is a particularly pure form of heroin also known in Iran as "crack". This is according to Iran's deputy foreign minister, Mehdi Safari. I this new easily smokable form of heroin is fast becoming the dominant way of drug abuse in Iran. No longer do addicts in Iran need to inject powder heroin to produce the same dangerous high. The rate of addiction is on the rise due to those who once feared disease from needles.
