Thousands of Afghan youths who are addicted to drugs present heart-wrenching scenes when one roams inside the capital city of Kabul and other major cities of Afghanistan like Kandahar, Hirat and Mazar e Sharif. When you see large groups of addicts busy taking opium and injecting it into their bodies in various parts of the Kabul city, you will definitely doubt if the government is present in this city at all.

The number of drug addicts in the country is estimated between 1.5 to 2 million and still growing. That figure includes women and children, unfortunately. Taking drug has turned into a very dangerous trend among the Afghan youth and rehabilitation centers for drug addicts are falling short. There are also reports indicating that a noteworthy number of Afghan police and soldiers are addicted to drugs.

Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of world opium. The drug that flows from Afghanistan to the rest of the world has turned into a headache for governments. But the first victim of the so-huge drug production is Afghans themselves. Meanwhile, the money squeezed from drug trafficking aids insurgents, warlords and criminal gangs. Drug is really cracking Afghanistan from within. It is unknown how much time our government will take to understand this and what miracle is required to wake it up.

Drugs are openly sold in Kabul and other provinces of Afghanistan and drug addicts roam freely everywhere creating social problems for the people. If no efforts seem to be in place to improve this condition, how could one believe the government is undertaking country-wide operations to tackle the opium?

Failures to control the opium production and trafficking seriously question the effectiveness of the billions of dollars of international aid so far spent. The government of Afghanistan is already under continuous pressure because of not doing enough to curb corruption. Expanding drug trade is adding fuel to the fire.

Recently the government has talked about decrement of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. There is zero poppy cultivation in a major number of provinces. However, this applies to the peaceful provinces only as in the insecure regions of Afghanistan poppy is still cultivated with no fear and worries from government.

Even if the graph of poppy production goes drastically down, the Afghan society has been deeply impacted. Afghan drug production is killing the Afghans themselves. It is the obligation of the government to take more serious and responsible measures to tackle the opium so that we can live a life free of drugs.