“Nobody could be upfront and say, ‘Yes, I am addicted.’ But now, the numbers are growing,” she said. And women are more frank.
Poverty, grinding conflict and a lack of hope make Afghans deeply vulnerable. “It’s cumulative,” said Sood.
The growing rates of addiction reflect the increased availability of drugs. Afghanistan is the world’s largest opium producer, despite the U.S. spending roughly $8.62 billion on counternarcotics efforts there.
“Many children become dependent on drugs, mainly opiates, at an alarmingly young age while in the care of drug-dependent parents or family members,” the U.N. reported.
Q breaks into song, and the lyrics reflect something of himself: “My heart aches, my heart aches and my heart aches,” he croons. The 10-year-old hopes to go professional one day, but his mother says that first, he has to break his addiction to heroin.
Q began smoking his father’s heroin in the summer, unnoticed by his parents, both addicts whose lives revolved around getting high and staying high. “I felt really happy. I felt free,” he said. (Q is only referred to by his first initial because of his young age.)
When his mother, Sarvan, realized what was going on, she marched herself and her son to a rehabilitation clinic in Kabul, where they now both live and are undertaking a 45-day detox program.
Shaking off his months-long addiction has been painful. “Every single bone of my body was hurting,” he said softly. The drug’s physical impact still lingers. Q’s eyes are sunken. His cheeks are pinched. You can feel his bones when you give him a hug.
Q and his mother are the new face of drug addiction in Afghanistan. More than ever before, women and children are being entangled in drugs, as the number of addicts aggressively grows.
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