Babies Fed Opium In Afghanistan

Babies Fed Opium In Afghanistan

Posted by TheNEWS on January 31, 2011

In a far flung corner of northern Afghanistan, Aziza reaches into the dark wooden cupboard,  rummages around, and pulls out a small lump of something wrapped in plastic.

An opium field in Afghanistan.

She unwraps it, breaking off a small chunk as if it were chocolate, and feeds it to  four-year-old son, Omaidullah. It’s his breakfast — a lump of pure opium.
“If I don’t give him opium he doesn’t sleep,” she says. “And he doesn’t let me work.” Aziza  comes from a poor family of carpet weavers in Balkh province. She has no education, no idea of  the health risks involved or that opium is addictive.
“We give the children opium whenever they get sick as well,” she says, crouching over her loom.  With no real medical care in these parts and the high cost of medicine, all the families out  here know is opium.
It’s a cycle of addiction passed on through generations.
The adults take opium to work longer hours and ease their pain.
Aziza’s elderly mother-in-law, Rozigul, rolls a small ball in her fingers and pops it into her  mouth with a small smile before passing a piece over to her sister.
“I had to work and raise the children, so I started using drugs,” she says. “We are very poor  people, so I used opium. We don’t have anything to eat. That is why we have to work and use  drugs to keep our kids quiet.”
The entire extended family is addicted.
This part of Afghanistan is famous for its carpets. It’s so remote there are no real roads. The  dirt ones that exist are often blocked by landslides.
“Opium is nothing new to our villages or districts. It’s an old tradition, something of a  religion in some areas,” said Dr. Mohamed Daoud Rated, coordinator of the centre.