Report: Drug use plagues millions of Afghans, including children - Stripes

KABUL, Afghanistan — More than one in 10 Afghans regularly use illegal drugs, including many children, according to an Afghan government survey released Tuesday.

Afghanistan produces roughly 90 percent of the world’s supply of opiods, which include opium and heroin. Marijuana is also grown widely, and the production of illegal narcotics has reached record levels, despite billions of dollars and years of international counternarcotics efforts.

As many as 3.3 million Afghans may use illegal drugs, according to the survey, which received funding from the U.S. State Department. It is the first such survey to be based on the toxicological screening of subjects.

Nine percent of Afghan children under the age of 15 — including more than 11 percent of rural children — tested positive for drugs, the survey found.  More than 30 million people live in Afghanistan.

The survey was conducted in two parts. The first, completed in 2012, examined urban populations. The second surveyed rural areas. Those results as well as the combined data were released Tuesday.

The survey found that 13 percent of rural resident use narcotics, compared with 5 percent who use drugs in urban areas.

Opioids such as opium and heroin are the drug of choice for the majority of Afghan narcotics users, according to the survey, with 7 percent of the total participants testing positive for such use. Opioids derived from poppies were found in fully 25 percent of rural households surveyed.

William Brownfield, U.S. assistant secretary of state for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, called the report’s findings “disturbing” and said drug use is a problem that can only be addressed through cooperation.

“Drug use is an Afghan problem, it is an American problem, and it is a problem for all… of the United Nations’ member states,” said Brownfield, who was in Kabul to discuss counternarcotics policies with Afghan officials. “Since the problem is a shared problem, the solution must be a shared solution.”

As worldwide demand for opium has diminished, U.N. officials say, the domestic market has become more of a focus for dealers. - Read More at Stripes

• Report: Drug use plagues millions of Afghans, including children

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