“I loved the company. We had all the same interests and it was fun to be with them. One day, one of them produced a needle. At first I was horrified, then I decided to try too. After that we all started shooting up regularly. Soon I saw these people were no longer interesting. Our only goal in life was to get hold of drugs. I had always thought I could stop whenever I wanted, but suddenly I realized I was hooked.” Thus comments a 16-year-old girl in a Tajik television documentary (Narcotics and AIDS 2002), while young men said they started on drugs out of boredom and a sense of hopelessness.

Despite Islam…