Pubdate: Tue, 22 Jun 2010
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: A6
Copyright: 2010 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Alissa J. Rubin
Referenced: The report http://mapinc.org/url/AY1tFCkS
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Afghanistan

Drug Use Has Increased in Afghanistan, U.N. Report Says

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The last several years of poverty, conflict and 
widely available opium are taking a toll on the Afghan population, 
with roughly 800,000 Afghan adults now using opium, heroin and other 
illicit drugs, a jump from five years ago, according to a study by 
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

In a report released Monday, the United Nations detailed the results 
of a study to determine the prevalence of drug use and found a jump 
in the use of every type of drug, with heroin use rising the most 
sharply, making Afghanistan one of five countries with the highest 
percentage of drug users.

"Many Afghans seem to be taking drugs as a kind of self-medication 
against the hardships of life," said Antonio Maria Costa, the 
executive director of the United Nations office on Drugs and Crime.

The study found that close to 7 percent of the adult population of 14 
million were drug users, defined as someone who regularly used opium, 
heroin, opiate derivatives or tranquilizers both in the last year and 
in the past 30 days. Of those, 90 percent said they were in need of 
drug treatment.

The report was a collaboration of the United Nations, the Afghan 
Counter-Narcotics Ministry and the Public Health Ministry. It 
reflects more than 5,000 interviews nationwide, including in conflict 
areas, although the report notes that interviews were not possible in 
all districts of Helmand Province, which has seen particularly heavy 
fighting this year. The method is the same one used in other 
countries where the United Nations surveys drug use.

The report also found that the most commonly used drug was opium, 
with 80 percent of those surveyed saying they had used it in the last 
year and most saying they were regular users. Of all drug users, 30 
percent had taken heroin in their lives and nearly all of those said 
they had taken the drug within a month of speaking to United Nations 
data collectors.

In other Afghanistan news, 14 detainees were released over the 
weekend, 12 of them from the Detention Facility in Parwan, which is 
run by the American military. The other two were released from an 
Interior Ministry detention facility.

The Afghan government took credit for the releases, saying they were 
following through on one of the promises of the national consultative 
peace jirga that met earlier this month, said Fazil Ahmad Faqiryar, 
deputy attorney general and a member of the committee reviewing detainee cases.

But the American military said that the committee did not have 
jurisdiction over Afghans held in American detention facilities and 
that the releases were part of "a structured process" of review by a 
military board.

President Hamid Karzai formed the committee to look into cases in 
which detainees were held without sufficient evidence to try them in 
court and those involving opponents of the government. The commission 
is headed by the justice minister.
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