Children are the future of a nation as today’s children are going to be tomorrow’s nation makers. The condition of the children in the present can give an idea of how the nation would be in the future. If they are having better life standards and they are mostly involved in creative activities, this hints towards a prosperous future but if they have deteriorated standard of living and they are mostly involved in negative and unconstructive activities, the future is bound to be dominated with evils and tribulations.

Afghanistan is one of the countries where most of the children are suffering from poverty and lack of resources, that’s why they are involved in so many negative activities. Among them begging and drug addiction are the most serious ones. Unfortunately there are many children who use different sorts of drugs and there are no measures to curb the situation.

A feature by Sohaila Weda Khamosh in Pajhwok Afghan News says that a survey by International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau reveals 7 percent of Afghanistan’s 1.6 million addicts are children. An earlier study conducted in 2012 had showed that in a quarter of homes where adult addicts lived children as young as 14 months showed signs of significant drug exposure like withdrawal symptoms when the drug was removed.

The two substances easily available to children are Patex, a kind of glue used to gum the soles of shoes, and petrol.

The scenario is really very much grave and needs immediate attention. Addiction is not only a problem in itself but it also gives rise to many other social issues. There are great chances that the addicts may turn into criminals. Once addicted, the addicts cannot find ways of escaping from it and instead try to search for all legal and illegal ways of finding money to pay for their drugs.   

On the other hand, because of the easy availability of the drug items mentioned above, it is really very difficult to keep the children away from them. At the same time, the efforts by the government to curb the situation are meager. More and more children, with each passing day, are becoming the victims of addiction and add more to the miseries of the country instead of being healthy, active and vigilant to play important role in the development of the country.