PUL-I-ALAM (PAN): Logar province in central Afghanistan was declared poppy-free five years ago, but since then the number of drug addicts has shot up.

In 2005, there were 9,500 addicts in Logar. In 2009, that figure was 25,000 and in the current year, it's estimated there are 27,000 addicts, according to Wadan Organization, an Afghan NGO that works primarily with drug addicts.

Drug addiction is a growing concern for all of Afghanistan, with the UN estimating there are about one million people, aged between 15 and 64, addicted to some form of drug, be it heroin, opium, hashish or tranquilisers.

In Logar, most of those addicted are in their twenties and early thirties and say they started taking drugs while working in Iran or in the opium poppy fields of Helmand and Kandahar provinces, the major opium producing regions. Although Logar no longer grows poppies, the province, just 60 kilometres south of Kabul, is on the smuggling route from the south to the capital city and drugs are widely available.

Ajmal, 22, a resident of Kutub Khel village in Baraki Barak district of the province, says he started smoking opium three years ago while working in Iran.

His roommate and friends, all took opium and so he did too. Now, he says, he cannot quit.

Hedayatullah, a resident of Muhammad Agha district, says he has been addicted to hashish and opium for past four years.

"I was the only person to provide food for my family; I was going to Helmand and Kandahar to work on poppy cultivation and became addicted there," he says.

"I cannot afford to treat myself, but I will be very happy to get support for treatment."

Wardan, the NGO, has treatment centres in Paktia, Ghazni, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Badakhshan provinces, but in Logar, it only has a consultation centre. Those needing rehabilitation or other treatment must be sent to Gardez, in neighbouring Paktia province.  

Some addicts also have received treatment in Kabul, but many return to drugs again.

Zubair says he spent a month in a rehabilitation centre in Kabul, but started taking drugs again because he was jobless.

"I was unemployed. I joined friends who were taking drugs, so I also got addicted again." 

Col. Meraj Uddin, manager of the Counter-Narcotics department in Logar province, agrees there has been an increase in the number of addicts in the province.

He says his department is trying to halt the flow of narcotics -- hashish, opium and heroin -- into to the province, but has not been successful.

Gul Ahmad, head of Wardan, told Pajhwok Afghan News that each month 15-30 new addicts arrive at their centre in Logar.

He says all the addicts are briefed about the dangers of drug taking and how it is seen in Islam and then referred to Gardez.

The addicts spend six weeks in the rehabilitation centre in Gardez where they quickly gain weight and recover, he says. They receive free medicine, food and fresh fruit while being introduced to methods and treatments for giving up drugs.

Aziz Ahmad, a resident of Alozai village of Pul-i-Alam, says he used to use narcotics, but was able to quit after treatment.

"My condition had really deteriorated. No one in my family talked to me, even my wife left me to live with her parents."

Ahmad says he is now working as a labourer.

Dr. Muhamamd Zarif Nayebkhil, head of the public health department in Logar province, says unemployment is a big factor in the increasing number of drug addicts.

He says that if there were job opportunities in Afghanistan, the youth would not go to neighbouring countries such as Iran and Pakistan, where they are introduced to drugs.

Nayebkhil said Wadan had treated 340 addicts over the past year, but that 240 had become addicted again and sought help at the clinic.

In the shadow of a tree, Jamal, 31, a resident of Hesarak in the provincial capital, Pul-i-Alam, prepares to smoke some opium,

He says he used to smoke hashish, but for the past three years has been addicted to opium.

After he became addicted his father-in-law took his wife and three children away, he says.

"It is not possible for me to quit. If I leave it for one day, I will die," he says.

With no jobs, many addicts are forced to steal from their families or other houses to pay for their habit.

A pack of opium costs about 150 afghanis while a cigarette of hashish costs 25 afghanis, according to those who buy it.

It is not only Afghan men who take drugs; many women also become addicted but figures are harder to come by as the women often do not contact health centres and stay inside their homes.

Sabera, 32, can often be seen begging on the streets of Pul-i-Alam. Both she and her husband are addicts. "My husband is at home; his health condition is not good, I am forced to beg so I can buy opium for me and my husband."

The couple has two children, a 10-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter. Both were taken away by their uncle who feared they too would become addicted if they stayed with their parents.

Some residents blamed police for the growing numbers of addicts; saying that if they took more action to arrest drugs dealers and smugglers, there would be fewer addicts. They also accuse some police of taking drugs and being involved in the sales of narcotics.

However, Gen. Ghulam Mustafa Muhsini said police were cracking down on the dealers.

He said that 148 kilograms of opium, 236 kilograms of heroin, 636 kilograms of chemicals used in producing opium and 1,423 kilograms of hashish had been seized over the past year.

While Muhsini acknowledged that some police did smoke hashish, there were very few addicted to opium. However he said an investigation would be carried out and those found to be addicted would receive treatment. .