The Rise in Drug Addiction among Afghan Women and Children is a Result of Colonialism of the 21 Century

According to the Washington Post on 19th of June, the number of drug addicted women and children in Afghanistan has increased in the last years. In 2010, U.N. experts estimated that there were about 1 million regular drug users in Afghanistan, mostly using opium as “a kind of self-medication” against the hardships of life. They reported in 2015 that the number of addicts in the country had soared to 3 million and more of them were using heroin. Shaista Hakim, a physician and drug rehabilitation specialist who works at the recently opened National Center for the Treatment of Addiction for Women and Children in Kabul said: “It is a silent tsunami, and if it is not controlled, in another few years it will be a disaster”. (The Washington Post)

Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world’s heroin and now this county is not only the global leader in opium production, but the population is also now the leading consumer of their own drugs. The Afghan health officials describe the drug scourge as a “tsunami” because the number of addicted increased to three million alone in the last two years.

Tens of thousands of Afghan women and children are affected by this problem. Some women become prostitutes or thieves. Many families give opium to the children to keep them quiet, send them out to beg, turn them over to orphanages or sell them into marriage to pay for drugs. Most desperate younger women gravitate to the drugs market under the Burned Bridge in southwest Kabul where they can share a pipe, purchase a baggie of heroin for pennies and hide from the world to forget every problem in their life.

The spread of drug addiction in Afghanistan is not only the result of the depravity of the society that doesn’t live under the Islamic concepts and the Shariah law, it is also the result of the colonial invasion, war and destruction of the country which turned families and generations into drug addicted mothers and children. The addiction of children has increased about 60% in the last two years. This is unfortunately not surprising in the war-torn country where heroin costs less than food. A gram of heroin costs around £1 in Afghanistan.

Many women give heroin to their children to protect them from hunger attacks. The addicted families reported that they do not have enough food to feed the whole family, so they let their children smoke to lose their appetite. Many women and children beg or sell their bodies to get the money for drugs because it is easier to earn this little money rather than the money needed for food.

Drug addiction also comes from outside of the county. Many Afghans, who become refugees in the neighboring countries because of the war and bad living situation in the country, use drugs at work in the belief that this will help them to work longer hours. After they return home, they bring this addiction with them and involve their families in this disaster.

Therefore, the main reason for addiction is the war in the county lead by the secular powers. There are many reports that the US forces bomb villages, killing dozens of innocent people and leaving a heartbreaking reminder to their families. These remaining family members use drugs to forget their pains and to liberate themselves from their senseless life.

After these attacks, many children become orphans, many women became widows and many parents became childless. War and anxiety are the most important factors which affect mankind psychologically. According to latest WHO estimates, more than 300 million people are living with depression globally, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015. While accurate data on depression and mental health disorders is not available in Afghanistan, according to recent WHO estimates, more than a million Afghans suffer from depressive disorders while over 1.2 million suffer from anxiety disorders. The actual figures are likely to be much higher. It has become commonplace in Afghanistan that most of the people try to forget their pains and grief through the use of drugs.

The Afghan government is busy helping their secular master in the so-called war against terror. They completely ignored the economic situation of the county let alone the psychological condition of the population.

The increase of drug addiction is another tragic reality facing women and children of the Ummah in Afghanistan. A deep look shows that the colonialists of the 21st century destroy the future of the Ummah step by step and no leadership is there to defend them. They bring all this destruction and disaster in the Muslim countries and the Ummah reaps the fruits of war and exploitation in form of drug addiction, depression, psychological disorders and a completely meaningless life whereby Allah SWT has given to the humankind a real meaning of life. However, some of the Ummah have grown tired because of all these disasters, and seek to fulfill the real meaning of life.

We are responsible for our future generation and for the mothers and sisters of the Ummah. We need to take this responsibility seriously and not watch silently as the merciless disbelievers destroy our countries and our Identity. It is our commitment to work with all our strength for the reestablishment of the Caliphate upon the Method of the Prophethood to put an end to all this ruin in the Muslim countries. Allah SWT will ask us about all these children and women who are lost in the Muslim counties and involved in confusion because of helplessness and a hopeless future. Therefore, we should not be negligent in complying with the duty of bringing an Islamic leader to power who will be the protector and rescuer of the Ummah.

(وَالْعَصْرِ * إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ * إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ‌)

“By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and did righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” [Surah Al-Asr]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Amanah Abed