Inside Iran: Alcohol intake remains high despite ban
This article is based on a report by Al Arabiya News Channel
Despite being banned by law, alcohol consumption in Iran is widespread and is much of a concern to the country’s authorities, a new report on Al Arabiya News Channel said.
Drinking is rampant among Iran’s elites and it usually takes place at home, behind doors, because the Islamic Republic has no night clubs, according to Reuters.
Iranian media reports suggest there are as many as 200,000 people in Iran addicted to alcohol.
According to a BBC report, alcohol tests conducted on drivers in Tehran between 20 April-20 May 2012 showed that 26% of them were drunk.
The ease of using alcohol prompted the Iranian government to issue the first state-run rehab and treatment center for alcoholism in Tehran in 2013.
The center was inaugurated at the Tehran University's Medical School, according to a report by an Iranian semi-official news agency.
One of the physicians at the center, Dr. Mohammad Reza Sargolzaiee, was quoted ISNA as saying that the center opened "following an increase in alcohol use among Iranians," the Associated Press reported.
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