VOA慢速英语--毒品问题让伊拉克监狱拥挤不堪

Drug Problems, Crowded Jails in Iraqi City

The Iraqi city of Basra is struggling to deal with a growing problem: illegal drugs.

The drug problem has led to overcrowded prisons and increased pressure on police to find the drugs and the people who use them. It comes just months after violent protests over poor government services.

Once known as the Venice of the East, Basra city lacks clean water and does not have enough electricity to power air conditioning equipment. Unemployment is widespread, especially among young people, in the city that has a population of around 4 million people.

The number of drug arrests has risen since 2015, notes Shaker Aziz, a member of the Basra police narcotics¹ force. By March, police had seized 15 kilograms of illegal drugs this year. Some 50 to 60 people are arrested each week on drug-related crimes, compared to more than 1,000 all last year, he added.

Major Aziz told the Reuters news agency that drugs have spread "because the youth are lost, they have no money, they are sick of life." He added that prison officials tell the police: "Ninety percent of inmates³ are convicted on drug charges, stop sending them."

"So we keep them here,” Aziz said, speaking about small, overcrowded holding cells.

In 2017, Iraq declared victory in the four-year war against the self-declared Islamic State, or IS, group. The city of Basra never fell to IS militants⁴.

The situation in the prisons is evidence of the difference between the wealth Basra province produces and its poor living conditions. Basra's oil industry is responsible for over 90 percent of the state's revenues.

Local health officials promised to reopen and improve a 44-bed rehabilitation⁵ center this month, but the police say 44 beds is not enough.

“All of Basra’s oil and we can’t afford rehab?” said Aziz, the police narcotics officer.

Asked about the situation, the state-owned Basra Oil Company said it has offered to donate $5 million for a drug treatment center.

Regional drug trade

A police official, Bassem Ghanem, said methamphetamine, known popularly as crystal meth, is the most widespread drug. Opium⁶, cannabis and pills are also commonly used.

Basra’s police force says 97 percent of drug users arrested in 2018 were unemployed⁷, and more than two thirds were 25 years of age or younger.

All of the drugs come from other countries, said Colonel Ismail al-Maliki, who heads the Basra police narcotics unit.

Basra Police Chief Rashid Fleih said in November that 80 percent of drugs entering the city come from Iran. The Iranian government has denied his claim.

Even so, preventing drug trafficking is a serious problem for Iran. It borders Afghanistan, the world’s largest opium producer, and Pakistan, a major transit⁸ country for drugs.

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

narcotics – n. pain-reducing medicines

inmate² – n. a person who is kept in a prison or mental hospital

convict – v. to prove that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law

cell – n. a small, single room usually for one person

revenue – n. the amount of money produced; the money returned by an investment

rehabilitation – n. the act of returning to good health

afford – v. to be able to pay the cost of

transit – n. the act of moving people or things from one place to another

1 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

3 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

6 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。