WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest rates of drug use, with an estimated four million addicts.
On World Drug Day, June 26, the UNDP announced providing opioid substitution therapy to 1,600 addicts in five Afghan provinces with support from The Global Fund.
The international day raises awareness about drug abuse and promotes strategies to combat it. This year’s theme was “People First: Stop the Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention.”
For nearly two decades, Afghanistan was the world’s top opium producer, supplying an estimated 80% of the global market.
The Taliban, who financed their insurgency against the former government of Afghanistan and its international allies through drug revenues, vowed to eradicate poppy cultivation after returning to power in 2021.
In April 2022, Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree prohibiting the cultivation of poppy, the primary source of opium used in heroin production.
The decree threatened violators with strict penalties under Sharia law.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported a 95% drop in poppy cultivation following the Taliban’s ban last year. However, despite reported reductions, drug abuse, particularly among youth, remains a serious concern due to a lack of proper treatment facilities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 2.9 million people abuse drugs in Afghanistan, while nine million have mental health issues.
Furthermore, neighboring countries such as Tajikistan and Iran report not a decline but an increase in the volume of drug trafficking originating from Afghanistan.
“Opium poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan has decreased by 95%, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime,” a Tajik Drug Control Agency official told TASS News Agency in February. “Yet opioids, such as heroin and opium, as well as Afghan-made methamphetamine, are still flowing into Tajikistan.”
Iran, Afghanistan’s western neighbor, also disputed the UN report last November, claiming Afghanistan continues opium production and production of psychotropic substances despite the ban. Iran’s Drug Control official called the UN report “unbelievable.”
