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ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) For the first time in either Iraq or the Kurdistan Region, a rehabilitation center dedicated solely to the treatment of drug addiction will be built in a joint public-private sector project in Erbil.

The soon-to-be-built facility will provide comprehensive treatment options for those struggling with substance abuse, according to Kurdish investor Ibrahim Idriss Bapir, who spoke to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)s Media and Information Department.

Although the center will be privately-owned, it will be under the supervision of government entities such as the KRG's Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs, Interior, and Education, he added.

According to a government statement, some 20,000 squares meters of land have been allocated to the project by municipality authorities.

Since Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have never had such a facility, dedicated exclusively to combating addiction, those needing rehabilitation or intensive addiction treatment regimens have to travel abroad to seek treatment.

Unlike wings of existing hospitals or clinics within Iraq's borders that attempt to face multiple mental health conditions, patients will enroll in classes and have access to swimming pools, libraries, and many other addiction-based resources that can be crucial for a successful recovery, said Bapir.

The sale or consumption of illicit drugs is strictly prohibited in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, where authorities often intercept shipments of drugs passing mainly through the provinces of Basra, Diyala, Erbil, and Sulaimani, specifically in the towns and villages connecting the autonomous federal region of Iraq with neighboring nations Iran and Turkey.

Security forces in the Kurdistan Region regularly announce the arrest of drug traffickers, made as part of its bid to disrupt gangs and other criminal networks dealing drugs, but sometimes with a conspicuous absence of apparent programs to treat those who find themselves addicted to some controlled substance or another.

Since the beginning of 2021, security forces attached to the Directorate "have impounded 214 kilograms of various banned substances, 556 kilograms of drug-laced tobacco, thousands of hallucinogenic pills, and 3,100 US dollars in counterfeit bills."

Read More:KRG destroys batch of illicit drugs on International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Regions Anti-Narcotics Directorate in Erbil announced the arrest of 10 individuals who now face drug charges.

Read More: Erbil security forces arrest a group accused of drug trafficking, possession

"Erbils security apparatus managed to arrest ten suspects today, Tuesday, with the confiscation of many types of narcotic substances in their possession," read a government statement.

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Kurdistan Region to open Iraq's first rehab center dedicated to treating drug addiction - Kurdistan24