Iran's heroin fight

Last Modified: 10 Mar 2006
By: Jonathan Miller

Iran has the largest heroin problem in the world. But can the west learn from their treatment methods?

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Liberal drugs policies are usually associated with liberal countries. So it may be surprising that a strict Muslim state such as Iran not only has the world's worst problem of heroin addiction, but is now tackling it with enlightened techniques.

There are three and a half million heroin addicts in Iran, and their sharing of needles is fuelling a soaring rate of AIDS infection.

But as Jonathan Miller now reports as part of Channel 4 News' Iran Week, western democracies may have something to learn from the country's programme of methadone treatment.