KABUL -- It was the dead of winter in February 2022 when I first met Marwa, a 38-year-old opium addict, sitting huddled under a blanket in the women's drug rehabilitation center in Kabul with two of her children. Mina, age 2, had just woken up and was writhing in pain, lifting her small head to see her new visitors.
Afghan men smoke drugs on a street in Kabul in November 2022. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of heroin and opium, and domestic drug use is trapping millions there in poverty. © Getty Images
The Big Story
Afghanistan's opium tragedy persists despite Taliban cultivation ban
Sanctions and loss of foreign aid puts treatment out of reach for many addicts
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