Opium Tincture (OT) Dec. 28, 2022
We start the session seeking strength from The Supreme Power, Allah. Hello friends, I am Hossein, a traveler, master of ceremony of this session. Since this morning some travelers have been liberated, and then I came downstairs. We had 64 liberations from drug addiction, I think 20-odd liberations from nicotine; also, there were liberations regarding the transcription of 40 CDs and other cases.
Well, on Monday we had about 60-odd liberations, and on Friday there were around 40 or 50 or 60 liberations. This means that the number of liberations is growing beyond 140 to 150 cases per week. If Wednesday sessions are almost suspended a little bit, this is because it depends on the number of liberations. If I finish the liberations soon, then I'll attend the session soon. Otherwise, I won't make it if it's too late. If Amin is here to give me a hand, I will go to the meeting and have him sign the liberation orders. But if he's not here, I'll be busy with the liberations. Currently, Amin is studying at the University of Shiraz.
In addition, we are working tirelessly to grade papers. Although computers mark papers, two examiners must still review them. Simply put, the computer grades the test paper and then an examiner double-checks it, signs it, and confirms that it has been marked correctly.
After that, the initial examiner hands the paper to the next examiner. The second examiner then reviews, signs, and grades the paper. Therefore, the examination has two phases. One phase is the examination itself. On a 20-point scale, a person is awarded a maximum of 2 points for the services they have provided. Regardless of the variety of services a person has performed, they will only receive 2 points on a 20-point scale. On a scale of 100, these two factors are worth only 10 points, and on a scale of 20, it has 2 points. However, they still hold significance. For instance, someone may have attended Congress 60 for five years but has not contributed in any way. Such an individual is not fit to be a guide. If someone has attended Congress 60 for five years but has not served as a secretary, master of ceremony, or didn’t work in the OT section or as a legion's secretary, they may be admitted in the exam to become a guide. However, these individuals are qualified to be guides due to their lack of service.
We have an agriculture professor who cannot distinguish between wheat and barley! What I mean is that anyone who becomes a guide has experience serving in various positions such as Marzban, Secretary, Donner, Sardar, Pahlavan, legion's secretary, newcomers' guide, and more. This sets apart those who have reached The Second Travel from those who have reached it but haven't done any services.
Opium Tincture (OT) is the very antidote. Have you heard the proverb “Locking the barn door after the horse is stolen?” Alright, by antidote I mean opium and alcohol. In other words, opium tincture consists of opium and wine or alcohol. This so-called antidote which we hear in the story of Rostam and Sohrab in Shahnameh is indicative of the fact that there had been strong opposition before we could bring OT into play.
Only the members of Congress 60 did this job. (I did not notice; I usually leave my cell phone upstairs). Lots of work was done to bring OT into play. All the officials believe that it was only because of what Congress 60 did that OT was brought into the process of treatment.
It took 10 years. Initially, opium was used for treatment. Now, unfortunately, the price of opium has increased slightly; but after the Taliban, the price has decreased. The price was 45,000,000 toman per kilo, meaning that if you wanted to buy cylinder-sized opium, you must have paid over one million toman at least. [1 USD = 49,000 toman] Cylinder-sized opium is one million toman, which means 50,000 toman per gram.
However, the cost decreased to 35,000,000 Tomans. I have supported the cultivation of opium in Iran since I began working. I now agree that the country should cultivate opium. We used to cultivate opium before the Islamic Revolution. We lost the concession of cultivating opium because we did not cultivate it. Our concession was granted to Turkey. Do you know that opium is cultivated in Germany? Do you know that Australia has much more opium than Afghanistan? Opium is also cultivated in India. Indeed, cultivating opium is advantageous to a country, as not all countries are granted this concession. In the previous administration, this special privilege was given anyway, based on favoritism or something similar.
Currently, we are forced to either pay a large sum of money or offer gold to foreign smugglers to import opium into the country. It is important to consider the significant amount of cash and gold that is leaving the country in exchange for this imported opium.
When opium tincture tried to enter the market, there was fierce opposition. Everyone made fun of us and asked, "What's your plan? Do you want to make everyone use opium? Do you want to turn everyone into addicts?" and so forth and so on.
However, the Anti-drug Headquarters provided us with significant assistance, despite strong disagreement from the Ministry of Health. I believe that senior officials supported the proposal as they witnessed the travelers' recovery and balance.
Human beings faced crises and problems due to the misuse of opium. Initially, the members used opium during their treatments, but this led to issues such as drug trafficking and so on. But now, they visit authorized pharmacies or clinics that are licensed to sell opium tincture. They receive their medication which is usable as well as measurable. Hence, we should be always thankful to God who bestowed this medication upon us, with which travelers can be easily cured.
The current cost of opium is 35,000 toman per gram. However, the price has been reduced recently. As for the cost of OT, it is approximately 1700 toman. If we want to calculate the price of opium per gram in the OT, it would be around 1700 toman, or at most 2000 toman, which is roughly 2000 toman. According to our calculations, the cost of each bottle of OT is 40,000 toman, which is the price set by the government. However, the market value of OT was initially between 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 toman per bottle, but the price has since decreased. This means that we are currently selling OT for a price range of 2,000 to 2,200 toman, which is significantly lower than its market value.
I believe that the cost of Opium Tincture at clinics should be the same as the market price, not lower. Opium tinctures at clinics should have the same price as the market's.
Now, because of what I did, the cost has gone up. They wanted to sell it for 5000 or 3000 tomans, instead of 40,000 tomans! What will happen then? There may be illicit trade and misuse. But if the prices are equal, someone will purchase OT from the pharmacy instead of buying opium. In such a situation, no one will misuse it, including the factory, distributor, or clinic. No one would misuse it because it's not valuable enough.
If there's a significant difference in prices - considering all aspects of the situation - problems and crises will come up. In the meantime, the OT staff has been working very hard. We would like to extend our gratitude to Babak for his hard work. Also, Mahmoud is here with us, but Babak is not. I request Mahmoud to speak with us briefly. Additionally, other individuals in the OT department work extremely hard.
In addition, we have also some people who are in charge of OT and work very hard and do their job for female travelers. We provide the same level of services to our female travelers as we do for our male travelers. They also make strenuous efforts. On my part, I extend my gratitude to all of them.
Translated by: Sadjad
Edited by: Marjan M