Children Addicted to Drugs shows the remarkable phenomenon of young children being addicted to drugs in Afghanistan. My view of drugs did not change after watching the film. The film is not even necessarily about drugs as much as it is the ravages of war and systematic poverty. For example, the people living in remote regions of Afghanistan do not have access to proper medical treatment. Opium and other opiate drugs like heroin are the only pain relievers the people have available to them. Whether suffering injuries directly due to the war such as a bomb or to health problems, children need the opiates for pain relief. They become addicted, and then the families also realize that it is cheaper to sustain an addiction than it is to acquire food.In fact, the film shows that the war on drugs is the main problem. The government of Afghanistan, ostensibly due to international anti-drug pressure from the UK and the United States, has obliterated opium poppy crops -- the main source of income for many rural families. Cut off from their primary source of income, the families in those regions have nothing else to live on and thus use drugs because it is cheaper than eating and also cuts down their appetites. Drugs are a natural human need, and the war on drugs only makes the situation worse. Giving the people access to proper medical care is one solution to the problem....
Unless Afghanistan is able to rebuild its country and develop a sustainable market economy, the people will continue to live in poverty and turn to drugs either as a means of psychological coping or as a means of avoiding physical pain and hunger.
2. There are several outstanding incidents depicted in this film. One is the child prostitute. He is nine years old and spends many nights with his patron, a man who gives him enough money for drugs. Another incident is the child who admits that his drug addiction stems from post-traumatic stress due to his watching a bombing and then participating in the body collection process. These kinds of experiences lead to long-term trauma and it is understandable that drugs would be used as a means of coping. A third incident is the family that provides the young child with opium initially to treat pain, and then allowing the child to remain on the drug instead of dealing with the withdrawal symptoms.
Focusing on the latter incident, the reason why dealing with withdrawal is more difficult than feeding the addition is because the adult family members also need the drug and are addicted. Unless they are able to stop, their children cannot stop because the children will find and use the drugs. It is unfortunate that the parents are complicit in their children's addiction, but also impossible to blame the…
