3,400 rehabilitated addicts reunited with families in Baghlan

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): About 3,400 addicts have been reunited with their families after receiving treatment during the past 18 months in northern Baghlan province, an official said on Sunday.

Mohammad Nabi Kamran, director of counter-narcotics, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had launched the process of rounding up addicts in the province.

He said about 3,400 addicts had received treatment and 270 others were currently under treatment.

He added only 20 of the treated addicts were homeless and were sent to the provincial prison for living.

Most of the addicts were also taught tailoring skills at the rehabilitation centre so that they could eke out a living after being reunited with their families, Kamran explained.

He said some women were also addicted to drugs in Pul-i-Khumri city, but their exact number was not available.

Mohammad Yusuf, a treated addict, said he started using drugs about 32 years ago in Iran.

He told Pajhwok: "My wife, three sons, my parents and one brother have died, I have only one sister who is married. Now after treatment, I would like to work and spend the rest of my life with my sister.”

Earlier, doctors at the rehabilitation centre in Baghlan told Pajhwok Afghan News about 55,000 addicts were under treatment at the facility.

Drug addicts’ rehabilitation centres have been established in many provinces, including capital Kabul and many addicts have received treatment and others are under treatment in these centres.

kk/ma