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'Rice pill' cheap killer in Iran

Iranian authorities are warning people to not take aluminium phosphide pills, known as rice pills, as a quick means to suicide.
Drugs are prepared for burning during a ceremony in southern Tehran, March 9, 2009. Authorities burnt 3 tonnes of drugs confiscated in Tehran on Monday as a part of an anti-drug ceremony. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTXCK1E

In 2014, about 500 Iranians committed suicide by taking aluminium phosphide pills, according to official statistics. This number shows a 23% increase from last year in successful suicide attempts with these pills, commonly known as "rice pills."

Iranian authorities have recently warned people about the abuse of rice pills, so called because they are widely used in rice factories and warehouses to prevent infestation and mold. They are so poisonous that just a few of them, according to physicians and chemists, would be sufficient to prevent both mold and infestation in an entire rice silo or tobacco warehouse. Aluminium phosphide pills are widely used in suicide cases in India, but in Iran, this is a relatively recent development that went unnoticed until five years ago. Today, the provinces most affected by rice pill abuse are: Tehran, Mazandaran, Lorestan, Ilam and Gilan.

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