The phenomenon of drugs in the Middle East and its impact on Iraqi national security

Abstract

Drug abuse and trafficking are as old as human history , because the effects of many of the civilizations that prevailed here and there carried evidence shows that. The drugs have been found in their natural and industrial form, so there are many kinds, shapes and effects on the peoples, almost none of the world's continents is involved in drug trafficking, but the Middle East is one of the most active geographical regions, Because of its geographical location, which is the middle of the continents of the ancient world on the one hand, and the nature of the geostrategic region, as well as the wars and conflicts that have afflicted the countries of the region on the other hand, not to mention the poverty of most peoples of the region on the third hand and produces drugs in many areas of the Middle East and beyond, such as the Golden Triangle, the Golden Crescent, Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt Yemen and Sudan, drugs are transported to the Middle East through a variety of geographical routes, and the study area can be divided into drug-producing, consumer and transit countries.

Iraq was by its geographical location a transit country for drugs from the countries of Southwest Asia and Iran to the Gulf States and Turkey and the countries of the Levant, that after the fall of the former regime and the occupation of Iraq by the United States of America, which provided a suitable environment for the spread of drugs, which have had negative repercussions on the social, economic and political levels, and their impact on the national security of Iraq.