Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Strategic Center for Human Rights warned on Sunday against treating drug addicts as criminals.
In a statement, the center's vice president, lawyer Hazem al-Radaini, said drug addicts are "patients who need treatment in psychiatric hospitals that should be provided in every province."
He argued that incarcerating them with criminals convicted of other criminal offenses, including drug traffickers, makes them "future criminal projects".
Al-Radaini called on the government and the Ministry of Justice to provide special detention facilities for those convicted of drug possession, separate from those convicted of other criminal offenses.
He also called on the Ministry of Interior, the Police, and the Ministry of Health "to join hands to rehabilitate the patients to integrate back into society and get rid of the scourge of addiction."