Turn on, tune in, drop out in Tehran

Tim Leary’s famous quote – or the alternative bourgeois lifestyle from which it grew – probably doesn’t mean much to Iran’s poor. They’re not doing drugs to be cool or transcendent but to escape from arguably the world’s most repressive regime. What’s not surprising is that Iran now has the world’s highest addiction rate, according to this fascinating/depressing Washington Post article. No surpise either in who makes all the money from the drug sales. (Hint: it’s not the “Bear“. Okay, give up? Answer here. And it’s not just for the profits…. How do you stop a revolution? Get everyone stoned.)

While infants play in Washington, the Iranian people continue to suffer. Go figure.

UPDATE: The dope peddlers in Tehran, of course, have other things on their mind as well.