The Associated Press: Afghans increasingly abusing opium, heroin

The Associated Press: Afghans increasingly abusing opium, heroin: "Drug use has doubled in Afghanistan since 2005 — with nearly 3 percent of Afghan adults now addicted to opiates such as heroin and opium, according to a U.N. report released Monday.
The data suggest that even as the U.S. and its allies have poured billions into programs to try to wean the Afghan economy off of drug money, opium and heroin have become more entrenched in the lives of ordinary Afghans, creating yet another barrier to international efforts to knock out support for the trade that fuels the Taliban insurgency."