Over the past year, over two million men, women, and children were addicted. Addicted people face an intense struggle just to stay alive despite the fact that society turns its head from the problem. The government makes laws, but there is a requirement of proper strategy to control the situation.
The mistreatment of addicted people is an issue that is often ignored in our community. When you see an addicted person on the streets how do you react? Do you turn your head and ignore them? Do you become angry that they are living on the streets? Do you feel frightened and avoid the situation all together? Or do you see these people as human beings and treat them in that way? Addicted people are “subjected to alienation and discrimination by mainstream society”.
Most alienation and discrimination comes from the lack of education about addicted people. There are numerous untrue myths about such people. Many people believe that these people “commit more violent crimes than a normal person.” The reality is that addicted people actually commit less violent crimes than people with no addiction. The crimes that these people are committing are necessary to keep them alive. These crimes include sleeping, eating, and panhandling. Making it illegal to perform necessary daily activities in public when addicted people have nowhere else to go makes it impossible for addicted people to avoid violating the law. Another myth about addicted people is that they do not work and that they get their money from public assistance programs.
Addicted people often try to earn money by selling gums, cigarette or panhandling. It is impossible for an addicted person to support his or herself along with his or her family. Addicted children are often denied their right to attend public schools because of residency requirements. Also, for many addicted children, it is impossible to obtain social rights such as care clothing and many more and immunization requirements needed to attend public school. This is a violation of the constitutional law guaranteeing equal access to public education.
In many cases, people believe that they are not secure from addicted people roving in the Kabul city. It is difficult to understand how society can be so heartless when dealing with these people. All of the people who are addicted felt misunderstood by the world. The society has to come out and see their conditions on the roads and under the bridge before it can pass judgment, then people will realize what they are going through. It all starts with the attitudes of the people in the community.
Addicted people need to be treated with the respect of any other human being when they are ignored while asking for money it is mentally damaging. People need to have enough courtesy to at least acknowledge their existence. Communities need to be more educated about the issues surrounding addictedness and addicts. Awareness on addicted people would lead to more involvement in aiding the people.