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. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake