Afghanistan’s Opium Whole Families Addicted on Opium in Afghanistan August 10, 2009

August 10, 2009 In a small village in northeastern Afghanistan, it’s estimated more than half the residents are addicted to opium, Even the youngest of children are given the drug In a village in northeastern Afghanistan, it’s just past eight in the morning at Islam Begs house, and the family is already curled up around a burning opium pipe They include his one-year-old grandson No one looks twice as his aunt blows the opium at him It’s a common practice here, resulting in rampant child addiction. Residents argue there is no alternative because there is no medicine: there is one drug and that’s opium´ Islam Beg at age 65 admits he’s ashamed of what he’s become. Islam Beg, drug addict “I started taking a smoke until I got addicted to this (opium). I lost my property, I lost my strength, my bravery and now I am laying here with an empty stomach.” Beg’s forefathers used to own much of the land in the village and he once had 1200 sheep. But they were sold, and then the land sold, to pay for opium. The pipe is passed around and they all take turns to fill their lungs with this deadly substance. This family of five is typical of the growing number of narcotics addicts in Afghanistan. There are an estimated 150000 opium addicts and a further 50000 heroin addicts here Decades of war and poverty have instilled a sense of hopelessness in many people here, making narcotics an easydestructive way to deal with an often grim reality This village Sarab has a population of fewer than …
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