Stressed Iraqis turn to drugs to ease anxiety

BAGHDAD — For an Iraqi army soldier patrolling Baghdad's unpredictable streets, each 12-hour shift is an exercise in terror and uncertainty.

So Ahmed Qasim pops a small white tablet called Artane to help him through his duties.

"For me, it helps me to get the job done," he said. "I can't bear working without taking Artane. It makes me happy and high, but I still can control myself."

The abuse of prescription drugs, widely available in Iraq on the black market and through private pharmacies, has significantly increased since 2003, doctors and other health specialists say, nourished by the stresses of the war and the lack of strict government regulation.

Dealers do a brisk business in tranquilizers, painkillers and other drugs, specialists say, and drug abuse is a problem in the prisons and among Iraqis who live in poor neighborhoods or who are unemployed.

But in recent years, Iraqi soldiers and police officers have also turned to drugs to ease the stresses of their jobs. In particular, they are abusing Artane, a medication that is used to treat Parkinson's disease and that can have euphoric effects when used in high doses.

"They believe that this Artane allows them to become courageous, to become brave," said one doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.

"They take it so that there is no anxiety, no fear," he said, "so they can break down doors and enter houses with no shame."

No clear evidence exists that the misuse of prescription drugs has a significant effect on how soldiers and police officers perform their duties. Nor are any figures available on how widespread drug abuse is in the security forces or whether most of those who use the drugs do so daily.

But Qasim, 26, estimated that one out of three soldiers in his army unit take Artane or other drugs while on duty. Jalal Ammar, 45, an Iraqi police officer, said "probably 30 percent" of the police officers he worked with used Artane and other medications.

Amir al-Haidari, the manager of drug-addiction programs for the Ministry of Health of Iraq, said alcohol abuse was once a bigger problem than prescription-drug abuse, "but after the American invasion of Iraq, alcohol became limited because of the security situation and religious restraints."

Now, he said, "the long duties, the suicide attacks and the killing are all factors that drive the security-forces members toward Artane and other drugs."

Al-Haidari added that the Health Ministry had begun a campaign to close private pharmacies that sell drugs illegally and to place more restrictions on prescriptions. He said the problem was no worse in the security forces than among civilians.

The ministry, al-Haidari said, is also trying to open more treatment centers for addicts. Only one hospital in Iraq, Ibn Rushid psychiatric hospital in central Baghdad, has a ward devoted to treating alcohol and drug abuse.

Gen. Ahmed al-Khafaji, an official at the Interior Ministry concerned with police affairs, denied that drug abuse was a significant issue among Iraqi police officers.

"We don't accept any kind of addiction within the security forces or our troops from the police," he said, adding that any police officer who was found to abuse drugs "will be dismissed from our ministry forever."

On the street, Artane, Valium and other drugs are known by nicknames, including "the capsule," "the eyebrow" and "the cross." Ammar said that when police officers talked among themselves about the drugs, they referred to them as "appetizers" or "takeout."

Drug use is forbidden in the Iraqi security forces, but Qasim said soldiers took drugs discreetly and that "everyone in the army knows about it."

A 25-year-old police officer in Baghdad said he began taking Artane and Valium two years ago "to escape the bitter reality" and continued to use the drugs.

The police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from his superiors, says he often uses Artane for night shifts, while guarding the police station or "going on a mission in the scary and dark streets of Baghdad after midnight."

He has seen "so many explosions and picked up so many corpses, including those of my colleagues," he said. "Anyone would collapse under such high stress.

"We don't commit suicide," he said, "and that's why we resort to Artane and other drugs."