The Story of Afghanistan Child Drug Addicts | Documentary #afghanistan #drugs #addiction
Channel: COCKTUSJACK
Date: 16/02/2022

National surveys of substance use among those living in Afghanistan show multiple substances are easily accessible and commonly used in combination. Substance use in Afghanistan is complex, compounded by the fact that almost half (48%) of the population is comprised of youth under 15 years of age. The number of wome children who report substance use has increased alarmingly over the last decade and a half. And while substance use disorder treatment services have expanded in Afghanistan’s urban areas, there is still a need for evidence-based and culturally appropriate substance use prevention and treatment programs in rural areas. To fulfill the country’s constitutional obligation, which includes an increase in the provision of prevention and treatment programs, there is an obvious need for institutions to strengthen and refine the coordination of counternarcotics efforts.


Afghanistan has one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in the world. Almost half (48%) of the population is under the age of 15 years, while adults age 65 years or older represent only 3.7% of the nation’s population. Having such a young population is both an opportunity and a threat [11]. A ‘youth bulge’ is an opportunity for economic development, if youth are provided with education and skills training, yet it also poses a threat as an insurgent group can easily use uneducated youth for their own purposes. Each year, 400,000 youth enter the Afghanistan job market, but the opportunities for an economically rewarding job are limited [11] and even more limited for females.

The 2005 substance use survey estimated that 60,000 children in Afghanistan were using substances [2], but in 2015 that number jumped to 110,000 [4], an 83% increase. In addition to direct substance use, Afghan children are facing challenges regarding second- and third-hand opioid smoke. Findings from a 2008-2011 study, conducted by International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, that compared 20 homes where heroin/opium was smoked with 10 control homes, indicated that children as young as nine months old had detectable amounts of morphine in their hair samples. For example, in a sample of hair from a 10-year-old girl, there was 8350 pg/mg morphine, 4652 pg/mg codeine and a heroin metabolite 6-acetylmorphine concentration of 5607 pg/mg. Even large amounts of opioids were detected in the air and surface samples of homes where opium was smoked which poses risk to children (and all household members) of third hand exposure. Of the hair samples from children in homes where opium was smoked, 74% of children ages 2-14 years tested positive for opiates [12]. Among children ages 0-14 years who were tested in Afghanistan, 9.2% were positive for psychoactive substances and 90% were exposed through either their environment or by caregivers who gave them substances [4].

Substance use disorders appear to be more problematic with early onset use, as there is an increased likelihood of damage to the developing brain from the use of many psychoactive substances.

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