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Transcript/ScriptAFGHAN ADDICT PROFILE - Sohail
HEADLINE: Afghans struggling with drug addiction call for tougher laws
TEASER: Users and experts suggest ways to help the country's 4 million or so people addicted to drugs kick the habit
PUBLISHED AT: (DATE & TIME)
BYLINE: Mohammad Zaman Sohail
CONTRIBUTOR: Anne Ball and Rahim Gul Sarwan
DATELINE: Jalalabad, Afghanistan
VIDEOGRAPHER: Mohammad Zaman Sohail
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _ TV _x_ RADIO _x_
TRT: 2:49
VID APPROVED BY: KE
VIDEO:
TYPE:))
((INTRO))
[[Despite 20 years of government treatment programs and a Taliban-imposed ban on poppy cultivation, opium addiction rates continue to rise in Afghanistan. Some Afghans who are addicted to drugs say the Taliban should crack down harder on the sales and purchase of illicit drugs. Mohammad Zaman Sohail has the report, narrated by Shaista Sadat Lami.]]
((NARRATOR))
Muzamal Shah says for nine years, he’s been addicted to heroin, opium, methamphetamine and hashish.
He lives with other drug users in an empty lot in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and hasn’t been home for a long time.
His wife and three children are left alone at home without any help.
((radio: Shah says it's very painful — one night is like 10 years when he is away from his kids. He married by choice, and it was a marriage of love. But because of opium and meth, he never experienced or tasted married life or adulthood.))
((Muzamal Shah, Addicted to drugs (Male, Pashto))) (Video: 1:30 – 1:45)
“It’s so painful to me because one night is like 10 years when I am away from my kids. I married by my choice, and it was a love marriage. But due to opium and meth, I never experienced or tasted married life or adulthood.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Video))
Until last year, Afghanistan ruled as the world’s biggest poppy producer. But a Taliban-imposed moratorium on the plant that produces opium has cut cultivation by up to 95 percent in some areas.
Still, the Taliban acknowledges the country is suffering under high addiction rates and that as many as 4 million people who are addicted to drugs are scattered across Afghanistan. Afghan experts say there is not enough information to help those struggling with the disease.
((For Radio: Dr. Akhtar Mohammed Totakhail is a drug addiction treatment specialist. He says addiction is a growing concern in Afghanistan, but, he says, the problem is that there is no research on addiction, and that does not help with planning.))
((Dr. Akhtar Mohamed Totakhail, Drug Addiction Treatment Specialist (Male, Pashto)))
“There is no [international] assistance, so there is no research on the numbers of drug users, and no information about addicts, or how many addicts we have in society. And we won’t know about the reasons for addiction. If there is no information or no data, it will hurt our society.”
((NARRATOR))
More than half of the drug treatment centers closed after the Taliban takeover three years ago, and lack of funding keeps them shuttered.
But Yousuf Khan and others who were admitted to treatment centers in Jalalabad say they are a huge help to people with drug addictions. Khan is now in recovery.
((radio: Khan says that he regrets his addiction, and that he and others like him were like dead people when they were using drugs. Their conscience was dead, and their feeling was dead.))
((Yousuf Khan, Addicted to Drugs (Male, Pashto))) (Video2: 00:00 to 00:08)
“I regret it. Our life started from now. We were like dead people when we were using drugs. Our conscience was dead, and our feeling was dead.”
((NARRATOR))
Muzmal Shah also wants to see the Taliban open more treatment centers. He also believes that in addition to banning poppy cultivation, the buying and selling of drugs should also be stopped.
((radio: He says if they capture smugglers and drug dealers, nobody will be crazy enough to go to a place to use drugs. They will not be able to use drugs.))
((Muzamal Shah, Addicted to Drugs (Male, Pashto))) (Video: 03:59 to 04:12)
“If they capture smugglers and drug dealers, nobody will go to a place to use drugs. No one will be crazy to go to a place to use drugs. They will not be able to use drugs.”
((NARRATOR))
Shah and others addicted to drugs say that despite the Taliban's efforts to stop poppy production, drugs are still readily available.
((For Mohammad Zaman Sohail in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Shaista Sadat Lami, VOA NEWS))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJuly 3, 2024 14:39 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
