Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
United Press International - September 15, 2009
Describing the surroundings of the Kabul den, the report said: "Here junkies lie in their own filth, wasted limbs poking out of blood-spattered clothing as they blank out the abject misery of their surroundings. In one room, a veritable narcotics bazaar offers pills and drug paraphernalia -- with hits retailing at less than $4 ... The atmosphere is edgy and -- as thick clouds of burning opium fill the air -- dizzyingly toxic."
One resident told CNN he has been an addict for 22 years, one among 5 percent of Afghanistan's 25 million estimated to have the same problem.
With finances for rehabilitation tight, the report quoted a United Nations warning that rising drug use will drive users into needle-sharing, raising the risk of an HIV/AIDS crisis.
With the Taliban now controlling the drug traffic using the money to finance its insurgency, drug production has surged, the report said.
"More than 1.2 million people in Afghanistan are addicts. It's a very huge number and every year it increases," Afghan Counter Narcotics Minister Khodaidad told CNN.
Jean-Luc Lemahieu with the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime warned as intravenous drug use increases with needle sharing, the deadly diseases will come next.
"I think it is already happening today. We have seen, now, a few HIV/AIDS cases," he said.
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