addiction of the children

With the name of God the most merciful and with presenting my greetings to all lovers of this program; once again I welcome you to another program which is presented to you by the Change in Life Compiegne.

The topic of discussion of today’s program is about the addiction of the children and the guests that we have with us today are:

Mr. Chaman Shah Itemadi, Parliament member from Ghazni Province and the secretary of anti-narcotics, anti-intoxicants and immorality of ethics commission.

Mr. Abdullah Abid, Head of the children section of the independence human rights commission in Afghanistan.

Along with welcoming the guests; my first question is from Mr. Abid.

Question: What is addiction Mr. Abid? Which actions are considered as addict, please give us information?

Answer: Addiction is about the interest and dependency towards a drug; which attracts the person towards itself unnaturally and each day the interest is increasing towards this stuff.

Addiction is of two types; physically & mentally:

In the physical addiction the person become dependent physically to the drug and if the drug is not available the physical appearance of the person is changing, feels pain in the body and awful affects are observed on the person. Psychologically or mentally there is a demand for the drugs; if physically the addict person stopped the drugs, still he/she mentally require a time period to mentally forget the need of the drug.

Question: You have mentioned about the physical and mental addiction; which type of addiction is currently among the people?

Answer: about the addiction, it is to say that both types are famous; physically and mentally and about its treatment I would like to say that the physical addiction requires from 7 to 21 days so that the person forget the drug but mental treatment requires years so that the person recover; this person should be kept away from its addicted friends and also keep away the drugs from him until it totally recover his/her health.

Question: Mr. Itemadi; based on your views what could be the ingredients that cause addiction in the children?

Answer: the first ingredient that causes addiction in the children is the family; as each action of the family has its effect on the children either if it is positive or negative. If a family is addicted of the drugs then obviously it will have a direct relation on its children and inversely if a family is well known in the society then it will also have its effects on the children.

The second element could be the friends of the children; if the child is making relations with those friends who are stricken with this action then absolutely it will effect on the behavior and character of the child. If the child has a good friend, it has good effect and if bad then bad effect; it also to be mentioned that the environment has also its effects on the children.

Question: You have mentioned about the environment and its effects on the children; how you are evaluating our current environment?

Answer: About the current environment I would like to say that it is not good; I am not saying that the environment is hundred percent unfavorable but it is also not favorable because different types of the discussions from the democracy to different types of music and sound media has changed the environment of the homes and a sound environment which is matching the ideas of the people of this country is lacking. Finally, if the environment that we would like to have is not existing then it is clear that the current environment will have its effect on the elders and for sure that it has hundred percent its effects on the children.

Question: Mr. Abid, is there any accurate statistics of the addicted children?

Answer: Based on the statistics published by the Ministry of Anti-Narcotics shows that about 60 thousand children are addicted with drugs; among the one to one and half million addicted people consists of elders and children, 13% are the women and 6% are the children; where these statistics are not absolutely accurate and there are possibilities that it may be more than this. The commission also designed a questionnaire in this regard and because of many reasons could not complete the process and could not published accurate statistics in this regard.

Question: Mr. Itemadi; in the health centers in spite of medical treatment, how much mental and psychic treatment is given to the children?

Answer: In respond to your question; it is to say that the relevant organizations are able to do the 100% treatment of the addicted people, now there is no question and about the mental or psychic treatment of the children it is to say that hundred percent it is effective and this mental or psychic problem could be one of the reason that they turn towards the drugs; it is required that they are treated by a psychiatric.

Question: Mr. Abid; you have mentioned about the types of the addiction, which one of those are dangerous; physical or mental?

Answer: Basically both types of addiction has its side effects; important point is that as the use of the drugs are increasing the interest for it is also increasing  and the treatment become more difficult.

Question: Mr. Abid; is the allocated time period effective to get rid of the drugs and or there is a required specified time for this?

Answer: for the treatment of these patients; especially for their physical treatment only one day is enough but to remove the interest of drugs from their minds will take a longer period of time but to keep them admitted. At homes these treatments are also possible but there should be an alternative available for the addiction and there should be a specific hobby for them and meanwhile they should be kept away from their addicted friends.

Question: Recently, some of the children are seen busy under bridges in the usage of drugs; based on your views how much would be their income?

Answer: As I mentioned; addiction to the drugs have different elements and those children who are addicted are treated badly from the family side, where they may turn towards the addiction and these children in order to reach their aims use their availabilities; if the facilities are not available then they my attempt criminal actions to reach their goals and you are also the witness of these cases.

Question: Mr. Itemadi; based on your views, are the terrorist groups able to use the addicted children for their missions?

Answer: Yes, as it was mentioned previously; for the drugs the children need for an income and this is the reason that the opposition groups are using these children for multiple purposes.

Question: Is the Anti-Intoxicant Commission has done any specific task in this regard?

Answer: This Commission has Supervision teams which are supervising the activities of the relevant institutions with their budgets but until now this commission has not done any specific job regarding the addiction of the women and children.

Question: Mr. Abid; using the drugs is considered as crime and based on the law what should be its punishment?

Answer: As it is mentioned in Quran; anything that brings exhilaration is prohibited and its planting, production and smuggling based on the law has its punishment and those people who are using these drugs are criminals or not; I would say no and it is a sickness which has treatment and regarding the children there is punishment but not to the level of the elders. The children under 12 years old have no punishment but above 12 years to 18 years old have punishment.

Question: Mr. Itemadi: What kind of coordination exists between you and those institutions which are working in this field?

Answer: Coordination in one way is practical and on the other way on saying; at the saying side to all those relevant institutions that we have discusses, received the sense of cooperation but practically still there are problems. When we talk about the drugs only one Ministry is coming in our minds which is the Ministry of Anti-Narcotics; where the fact is not this because several Ministries are working in this regard and unfortunately no practical action has been taken by any of them and the number of the drug users are increase day by day.

Question: How can we prevent from the addiction of the children?

Answer: To prevent the children from the addiction; first of all the boundaries of Afghanistan should be closed with different countries and the opportunity of sending the drugs should be ceased until the farmers stop its planting and about the children the parent has responsibility to tell them about the side effects of the drugs. Also the schools and the mosques have responsibility in this regard to do the awareness in order to prevent this action.

Question: What is your suggestion in this regard?

Answer: Based on the authorities given by the law to this commission; that activities which are concern about the awareness should be supported by the government and according to the requirements of its civilians it needs to support the people.

Question: Mr. Itemadi: What is your suggestion in this regard?

Answer: My suggestion to the government authorities is that they should strip their head from the quilts and take serious the current situations of the country; for the treatment of this society they need to work hard and reach the prosperity.

We thank from Mr. Chaman Shah Itemadi, Pareliment member from Ghazni Province and the secretary of anti-narcotics, anti-intoxicants and immorality of ethics commission and Mr. Abdullah Abid, Head of the children section of the independence human rights commission in Afghanistan that they had cooperation with us in this table; Good bye.